{"id":934783,"date":"2026-10-20T09:38:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T09:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/934783\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T09:38:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T09:38:16","slug":"energy-from-waste-inquiry-recommends-moratorium-on-proposed-incinerators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/934783\/","title":{"rendered":"Energy-from-waste inquiry recommends moratorium on proposed incinerators"},"content":{"rendered":"

A New South Wales parliamentary inquiry into energy-from-waste facilities has recommended that the state government reject plans to burn Sydney’s waste in regional communities.<\/p>\n

The select committee on proposed energy-from-waste technology made 22 recommendations after holding seven hearings across 2025 and 2026.<\/p>\n

The committee recommended that development applications to build incinerators in Tarago near Goulburn and Parkes be knocked back.<\/p>\n

The chair of the committee, Nationals MLC Nichole Overall, today told NSW parliament it was clear the technology was not appropriate to be built in the communities.<\/p>\n

“Given the absence of numerous critical elements, significantly the lack of social licence and community acceptance including from local councils and Aboriginal land councils,” Ms Overall said.<\/p>\n

\"Ms<\/p>\n

Nichole Overall chaired the select committee’s inquiry into energy-from-waste facilities.\u00a0 (ABC News: Lisa Glenday)<\/p>\n

Environment Protection Authority regulations limit the construction of energy-from-waste facilities to four locations in NSW: Tomago, West Lithgow, Parkes, and the southern Goulburn-Mulwaree precinct.<\/a><\/p>\n

“The government, proponents and advocates state that these facilities are safe wherever they are located,” Ms Overall said.<\/p>\n

“Yet they are restricted solely to regional areas whether they like it or not.”Critical waste problem<\/p>\n

Existing landfill capacity in Greater Sydney is expected to be reached by 2030, with advocates for incinerators highlighting the technology as a potential solution.<\/p>\n

The scoping report for the proposed $1 billion Parkes Energy Recovery facility in the New South Wales central west was published by the NSW Planning Department on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A sign shows opposition to the proposed Parkes waste-to-energy facility.\u00a0 (Supplied: Parkes Clean Future Alliance)<\/p>\n

If approved, the site would have capacity to process 732,000 tonnes of waste per annum<\/a> by thermally treating household and industrial rubbish.<\/p>\n

Almost all of the waste processed would be transferred by rail from Sydney to the site, before being converted into up to 80 megawatts of base load power daily.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

If approved, the Parkes Energy Recovery facility would have capacity to process 730,000 tonnes of waste per year.\u00a0 (Supplied: Parkes Energy Recovery)<\/p>\n

Ms Overall said the committee heard from residents in opposition to the development throughout the hearings.<\/p>\n

“Waste is best managed as close to its source as possible,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Transporting hundreds of thousands of tonnes of metropolitan waste to regional facilities, hundreds of kilometres away adds to cost, emissions and impacts.”<\/p>\n

Supported by locals<\/p>\n

Parkes resident Erik Lensson welcomed the committee’s recommendation for the state government to reject the incinerator proposal.<\/p>\n

“It is entirely unsuitable,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Burning red bin waste from the big city and throwing it over the fence to the countryside is just a total cop out.”\"Man<\/p>\n

Ed Nicholas says the project is safe and, if approved, will deliver benefits to the region.\u00a0 (ABC News: Laurence Curson)<\/p>\n

In a statement, Parkes Energy Recovery director Ed Nicholas said while the technology is new to Australia, it has been embraced in developing countries around the world.<\/p>\n

“It’s a pity that the inquiry wasn’t able to visit an operating facility as part of their investigation,” Mr Nicholas said.<\/p>\n

“Had they done so, they would have seen for themselves how best-practice facilities, such as the one we are proposing for Parkes, work in both rural and urban areas to strict environmental standards.<\/p>\n

“We are committed to listening to feedback \u2026 and demonstrating the real benefits this project can bring at every stage.”<\/p>\n

\"Aerial<\/p>\n

Veolia is proposing to build the Woodlawn Advanced Energy Recovery Centre near Tarago.\u00a0 (Supplied: Veolia)<\/p>\n

Veolia is proposing to process 380,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste from Sydney each year<\/a> at the company’s existing Woodlawn site near Tarago.<\/p>\n

If approved, it would generate enough electricity for up to 40,000 homes.<\/p>\n

The proposal is before the NSW Planning Department and is awaiting a response to submissions from Veolia.<\/p>\n

Veolia have been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n

The committee received more than 1,400 submissions, the majority in opposition to the technology’s development.<\/p>\n

Recommendations handed down<\/p>\n

The committee also recommended a moratorium on all waste-to-energy proposals and an independent review of the four precincts designated for the technology.<\/p>\n

The report also recommended that a minimum buffer be maintained from proposed waste-to-energy facilities to ensure “safe and appropriate distances from food production, schools and hospitals”.<\/p>\n

\"Heavy<\/p>\n

Sydney is expected to run out of capacity at its landfill sites by 2030.\u00a0 (Pixabay: Pasi Maenpaa)<\/p>\n

Ms Overall said the suitability of incinerators needed to be examined further.<\/p>\n

“Those supportive of the proposed thermal waste-to-energy technology provided information and examples of its safe operation \u2026 and outlined commitments to stringent best practice regulation,” she said.<\/p>\n

“The committee is concerned with the expectation for proponents to be the ones ultimately responsible for engagement, dissemination or information and consultation.”<\/p>\n

Committee member and Labor MLC Emily Suvaal criticised some of the recommendations<\/p>\n

“A moratorium on energy-from-waste is not possible without viable alternatives in place,” she said.<\/p>\n

“The technology can be safe when managed with strong guidelines and standards, as it is in NSW and globally.”<\/p>\n

The NSW government is required to respond to the committee’s findings by January 20, 2027.<\/p>\n

NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe was contacted for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A New South Wales parliamentary inquiry into energy-from-waste facilities has recommended that the state government reject plans to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":934784,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[64,63,148213,75,165478,16862,40791,57305,128,148211],"class_list":["post-934783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-energy-from-waste","tag-environment","tag-incinerator","tag-nsw-government","tag-parliamentary-inquiry","tag-rubbish","tag-science","tag-waste-to-energy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934783","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=934783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/934784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=934783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=934783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=934783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}