Does New Zealand need a Waste-to-Energy plant?

[@nadapiatek9874]

We have a nearly decarbonised grid in New Zealand. Even if you can look past the toxins and entrenched waste demands that work against circular economy principles of reducing waste (and really - can we look past this?), there is little justification for incineration in New Zealand. Incineration is a carbon-fuelled process. You are burning materials, waste or otherwise, to release carbon. It is a baseline energy generator (not a peak demand responder) which means you will be 'offsetting' the clean energy that our hydro and wind farms with dirty energy from incineration. Overseas, when 'offsetting' actually is reducing the burning of something else that is dirty, there is more justification, but here in NZ that is simply not the case. And throughout Europe, these incinerators are being decommissioned as the reality of them in those areas we 'overlooked' above comes into focus. Aotearoa does not need or want incineration thanks.

[@angusburrowes5967]

Would you prefer that we emit more carbon shipping it overseas just for them to do the exact same thing?

[@nadapiatek9874]

@@angusburrowes5967 How is that the only alternative? What about reducing the volume of our waste, and recovering the value of end-of-use resources to be deployed into systems that continue to realise other values of that same material. #circulareconomy 101