Inquiry urges halt to plan to burn Sydney's waste in regional towns

In short:

A NSW parliamentary inquiry into waste-to-energy facilities has handed down 22 recommendations.

The committee advised that two incinerator proposals in Parkes and Goulburn should be halted pending an independent review.

What's next?

The NSW government has until early 2027 to respond to the recommendations.

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.

The select committee on proposed energy-from-waste technology made 22 recommendations after holding seven hearings across 2025 and 2026.

The committee recommended that development applications to build incinerators in Tarago near Goulburn and Parkes be knocked back.

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.

"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.

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.

"The government, proponents and advocates state that these facilities are safe wherever they are located," Ms Overall said.

"Yet they are restricted solely to regional areas whether they like it or not."

Critical waste problem

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

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.

If approved, the site would have capacity to process 732,000 tonnes of waste per annum by thermally treating household and industrial rubbish.

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.

Ms Overall said the committee heard from residents in opposition to the development throughout the hearings.

"Waste is best managed as close to its source as possible," she said.

"Transporting hundreds of thousands of tonnes of metropolitan waste to regional facilities, hundreds of kilometres away adds to cost, emissions and impacts."

Supported by locals

Parkes resident Erik Lensson welcomed the committee's recommendation for the state government to reject the incinerator proposal.

"It is entirely unsuitable," he said.

"Burning red bin waste from the big city and throwing it over the fence to the countryside is just a total cop out."

Veolia is proposing to process 380,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste from Sydney each year at the company's existing Woodlawn site near Tarago.

If approved, it would generate enough electricity for up to 40,000 homes.

The proposal is before the NSW Planning Department and is awaiting a response to submissions from Veolia.

Veolia and Parkes Energy Recovery have been contacted for comment.

The committee received more than 1,400 submissions, the majority in opposition to the technology's development.

Recommendations handed down

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

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".

Ms Overall said the suitability of incinerators needed to be examined further.

"Those supportive of the proposed thermal waste-to-energy technology provided information and examples of its safe operation … and outlined commitments to stringent best practice regulation," she said.

"The committee is concerned with the expectation for proponents to be the ones ultimately responsible for engagement, dissemination or information and consultation."

Committee member and Labor MLC, Emily Suvaal, criticised some of the recommendations handed down.

"A moratorium on energy-from-waste is not possible without viable alternatives in place,"she said.

"The technology can be safe when managed with strong guidelines and standards, as it is in NSW and globally."

The NSW government is required to respond to the committee's findings by January 20, 2027.

NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe was contacted for comment.