{"id":345022,"date":"2025-12-13T09:00:44","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T09:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/345022\/"},"modified":"2025-12-13T09:00:44","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T09:00:44","slug":"energy-from-waste-facility-sparks-health-pollution-and-aboriginal-cultural-heritage-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/345022\/","title":{"rendered":"Energy-from-waste facility sparks health, pollution and Aboriginal cultural heritage concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NSW government in 2022 legislated a ban on all energy-from-waste facilities except in four locations: Lithgow, Goulburn-Mulwaree, the Richmond Valley and Parkes.<\/p>\n

\"Wiradjuri<\/p>\n

Wiradjuri people and their supporters gather in Cooke Park, Parkes, to protest against the planned incinerator.Credit: Kate Geraghty<\/p>\n

The proposal promises to create 50 permanent jobs, fund projects in the community and generate enough electricity to power 100,000 homes annually.<\/p>\n

More than 200 locals marched through Parkes on Saturday to support a push from local Wiradjuri groups to stop the project.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019d put this in Point Piper, I\u2019d put it in Penrith, I\u2019d put it in Parkes … the emissions will be safe.\u2019<\/p>\n

Parkes Energy Recovery director Edward Nicholas<\/p>\n

A 2019 cultural heritage assessment of the precinct identified scar trees, cultural artefacts and a quarry, but concluded no Aboriginal objects or intact archaeological features would be harmed by the project.<\/p>\n

Aunty Frances Robinson, a traditional owner from Peak Hill, said the potential impact on the health of her community and their lands was not worth the economic benefits of the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf one person gets sick from the fallout \u2026 that is one too many,\u201d Robinson said. \u201cI\u2019ve got grandchildren to take care of tomorrow, to take care of Country \u2026 we don\u2019t need it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Aunty<\/p>\n

Aunty Frances Robinson at the site of the proposed incinerator with a photo of her Wiradjuri ancestors, which she carries everywhere she goes. Credit: Kate Geraghty<\/p>\n

A 2020 systematic review<\/a> found modern incinerators were associated with fewer negative health effects than older technologies, but warned many had not been operating long enough to gather strong evidence for or against construction.<\/p>\n

Parkes Energy Recovery director Edward Nicholas said the state government had chosen the site, but he was confident the technology was safe regardless of its location.<\/p>\n

Loading<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d put this in Point Piper, I\u2019d put it in Penrith, I\u2019d put it in Parkes,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re not saying this is zero emissions. What we\u2019re saying is that the emissions will be safe and will be within licence limits.\u201d<\/p>\n

The $1.5 billion project is backed by a consortium including investors in Abu Dhabi and Swiss company Kanadevia Inova, a pioneer in energy-from-waste technology.<\/p>\n

Nicholas said dozens of energy-from-waste facilities were operating around the globe, including 63 in the United Kingdom and three in central Paris.<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s first, the $700 million Kwinana Energy Recovery facility south of Perth, was opened by Western Australian Premier Roger Cook last month.<\/p>\n

Construction on the Parkes incinerator is slated to begin in 2027 and it is scheduled to open by 2030.<\/p>\n

An Environment Protection Authority spokesperson said the company had not yet submitted a development application. Any such proposal would need to be supported by community feedback and rigorous environmental assessments considering air quality, health, agricultural risk, traffic noise, water issues and social impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cEmission limits in NSW are among the most stringent in the world,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201c[The proposal] will need to meet strict regulatory settings that align with global best practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

A NSW parliamentary inquiry into proposed energy-from-waste facilities in Parkes and Tarago, south of Goulburn, received more than 1400 submissions.<\/p>\n

Later this month, the inquiry will begin investigating the technologies proposed at the two sites and their impacts on human health and agriculture, as well as alternatives to reduce and manage waste in greater Sydney.<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NSW government in 2022 legislated a ban on all energy-from-waste facilities except in four locations: Lithgow, Goulburn-Mulwaree,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":345023,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[64,63,75,128],"class_list":["post-345022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}