Arabic version: تحقيق في نيو ساوث ويلز يدعو إلى وقف خطط محارق المناطق الإقليمية

According to ABC News, a New South Wales parliamentary inquiry has recommended that the state government reject proposed waste-to-energy incinerators at Parkes and Tarago near Goulburn. The select committee on proposed energy-from-waste technology made 22 recommendations after seven hearings across 2025 and 2026, including a moratorium on all waste-to-energy proposals pending an independent review.

Committee chair and Nationals MLC Nichole Overall told NSW parliament the technology was not appropriate for the communities, citing a lack of social licence and community acceptance, including from local councils and Aboriginal land councils. The inquiry also called for an independent review of the four NSW precincts designated for energy-from-waste facilities: Tomago, West Lithgow, Parkes and the southern Goulburn-Mulwaree precinct.

The report recommended maintaining a minimum buffer from proposed facilities to ensure safe and appropriate distances from food production, schools and hospitals. It also raised concerns about moving metropolitan waste to regional sites, with Ms Overall saying waste was best managed close to its source and that transporting hundreds of thousands of tonnes over long distances added cost, emissions and impacts.

The Parkes Energy Recovery proposal could process up to 732,000 tonnes of household and industrial waste a year and produce up to 80 megawatts of base load power daily, with almost all waste transferred by rail from Sydney. Veolia’s proposed Woodlawn Advanced Energy Recovery Centre near Tarago would process 380,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste from Sydney each year and could generate electricity for up to 40,000 homes.

More than 1,400 submissions were received by the committee, with most opposing the technology’s development. Labor MLC Emily Suvaal criticised some recommendations, saying a moratorium was not possible without viable alternatives and that the technology could be safe under strong guidelines and standards. Greater Sydney’s landfill capacity is expected to be reached by 2030. The NSW government must respond to the findings by January 20, 2027.