Update: Waimate waste to energy plant resource consent applications
Find out about the applications from South Island Resource Recovery Limited for a proposed waste to energy plant in Waimate.
Application summary
South Island Resource Recovery Ltd (SIRRL) applied to us for seven resource consents, and Waimate District Council for one resource consent, to permanently operate a large waste to energy incinerator in Waimate.
The proposed facility would burn up to 1,000 tonnes per day of everyday rubbish (technically known as Municipal Solid Waste) and construction and demolition waste.
It would burn about 20 percent of all rubbish produced in the South Island, to generate up to 30 MW of electricity per year - enough to power tens of thousands of homes.
The waste will be delivered to the site by up to 70 trucks per day initially, with a view to eventually using the railway network.
Most waste will be unloaded directly from trucks into an eight metre-deep fuel bunker which will hold up to 7,000 tonnes.
The facility will also allow for the storage of up to 45,000 tonnes of bailed construction and demolition waste in a covered warehouse.
The proposal will use up to 2,500 m3 per day of water (application pending) and generate up to 20,000 tonnes per year of 'fly ash' (ash generated during combustion) that will be vitrified (encased in glass).
It will also generate 80,000 tonnes of grate ash that will need to be disposed of by other means. After being burnt, any air discharges will be cleaned, with residual contaminants being discharged from a 75m high exhaust system.
Received resource consent applications
Eight resource consents are required under the Canterbury Land and Water Regional Plan and Canterbury Air Regional Plan to construct and operate the proposed facility. SIRRL has submitted the following seven:
Application timeline
September 2022: We received, and began auditing, resource consent applications from SIRRL for a proposed waste to energy plant near Waimate.
October 2022: We returned the resource consent applications. This was due to insufficient information being supplied regarding the proposed activities of the plant, and their effect on the environment.
November 2022: SIRRL submitted revised applications.
December 2022: We returned the revised applications due to insufficient information being supplied – in particular, the lack of a cultural impact assessment.
January 2023: We received a formal objection to our decision to return the revised applications.
April 2023: A joint hearing was held for us and Waimate District Council regarding our returning of the revised applications. (Waimate District Council had also returned SIRRL’s application).
May 2023: We were informed the commissioner found in favour of the applicant. As a result, we and Waimate District Council commenced formally processing the applications.
May 2023: The proposed facility will require a water permit to take up to 2,500m3/day to run the waste to energy facility. But since this has not been applied for yet, it was put on hold awaiting the consent application.
June 2023: Our councillors agreed to send a request to the Minister for the Environment to ‘call in’ the resource consent applications in accordance with s142 of the RMA. Waimate District Council has done the same.
July 2023: SIRRL also sent a request to the Minister for the Environment to ‘call in’ their proposal.
- Discharge contaminants to air from waste incineration and discharge to air from diesel generators
- Excavation and deposition of material as part of the construction
- Use and storage of hazardous substances
- Take of groundwater for dewatering purposes
- Discharge construction-phase stormwater to land and discharge dewatering water to water
- Discharge operational stormwater to land
- Discharge contaminants into land from an onsite wastewater system for workers and visitors
The following consent still needs to be submitted:
- Take and use of groundwater (application pending)
What happens next?
The Minister will decide whether to ‘call in’ the applications.
Consent applications can be ‘called in’ when they are of national significance as defined by the Resource Management Act. We believe this consent application meets the threshold for this as it is new technology to New Zealand that has the potential to discharge contaminants of concern, has cross regional implications (in that waste will be sourced from across the South Island), and provoked widespread public interest.
The Minister may request advice from the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) with respect to whether this is a proposal of national significance, and the EPA has 20 working days to provide that advice.
If the Minister agrees to call the matter in, a Board of Inquiry or the Environment Court will become the ultimate decision-maker on the proposal.
The EPA would take on the role of calling for submissions, and the Environment Court or Board of Inquiry will hold a hearing. Councils will still have a role in the hearing, and members of the public/submitters can join the proceedings and participate.
The Board of Enquiry would have a time limit of nine months to make a decision after the application has been notified (that may be extended at the discretion of the Minister), while the Environment Court has no deadline.
Any appeal to the decision could only be a question of law to the High Court (rather than to the Environment Court, which could occur under the normal resource consent process).