Proposed waste to energy plant FAQs

A company called Global Contracting Solutions.

Global Contracting Solutions want to build a waste to energy plant in Te Awamutu, incinerating 150,000 tonnes of rubbish annually. Burning the rubbish will be used to generate steam and that steam will be turned into electric power.

It would come from waste collected by multiple councils. The application says 480 tonnes of rubbish to be incinerated will be received on site, per day.

The application proposes that rubbish would be stored inside buildings, on the site, before being sorted and incinerated.

Not necessarily. That depends on where those who collect the waste choose to send it. Waipā generates around 27,000 tonnes of rubbish annually, based on this 2022 Waipā waste assessment.

No. It would need more than five times that to keep the plant going. Rubbish to be burned would have to trucked in from outside the district.

In the application, Global Contracting Solution say the proposed plant would generate 15 megawatts (MW) of electricity, which they say is sufficient to power 14,000 households.

No. Not, according to this information produced by the Ministry for the Environment.

That is what is being proposed. While the plant would operate on a continual 24 hours a day, seven day a week basis, the applicant suggests truck movements would be restricted to between the following hours:

• Monday to Saturday – 7am and 5pm
• Sundays and Public Holidays – 8am to 5pm

(Note, none of this has been decided yet because a resource consent has not been granted).

The applicant has assessed traffic generation waste delivery, service and staff traffic. The majority of waste delivery traffic (60 per cent) is projected to come from Auckland/Hamilton with access from Ōhaupō Road (SH3) and Racecourse Road.

The application suggests 60 people will be employed, with around 40 people on site during the day and 20 people on site at night.

The full application, with much more detail, is available here.

No. Legally we cannot. Unless an activity is classified as ‘prohibited’ any person can apply for a resource consent. Council then has a legal obligation to assess that application against the Resource Management Act.

In this case the proposed activities are not ‘prohibited’. That means Council has a legal obligation to process the application if it meets certain minimum requirements. These requirements have now all been met so the application is being processed.

A small portion of the proposed plant is located on land zoned as ‘Residential’ or ‘Rural’. As this is an industrial activity, resource consent is needed for the activity to go ahead in these zones.

The majority of the proposed site is in a Specialised Dairy Industrial Area, which is a specific area under Council’s District Plan. The proposed activity is not permitted in this area so permission, via a resource consent, is required.

No, the proposal does not comply with District Plan rules relating to earthworks, noise, building setbacks, the height of the chimney stack, landscaping/screening and vehicle entrance separation from another vehicle entrance.

Yes, this is publicly notified resource consent process.

The decision to make it a publicly notified process was made in September 2022. This means any member of the public, or organisations, can make a submission.

Submissions closed on Friday, October 13 2023.

Waipā District Council received 872 submissions.

Waikato Regional Council received 824.

Yes, Waipā District Council wrote to 400 residents and businesses close to the proposed site, advising of the application and letting them know how to make a submission.

No, the resource consent applications will be considered jointly, by both councils.

On December 15, 2023 Waikato Regional Council asked the Environment Minister Penny Simmonds to ‘call in’ the proposal.

A ‘call in’ means that instead of the proposal being heard by a Hearing Panel of independent commissioners, it will be heard by a Board of Enquiry or the Environment Court.

WRC made this decision to enable greenhouse gas emissions to be considered. See their media release here for more detail.

On February 7 2024, Waipā District Councillors also agreed the proposal should be called in. Waipā District Council has now also formally made that request of the Minister. See Waipā's news release here: Council asks Minister to call in proposal.

The Minister has advised Council that the decision on whether or not to ‘call in’ the proposal will be made by Cabinet and is scheduled to be considered in July 2024.

No. If it is called in, the application will be heard by a Board of Enquiry or the Environment Court. (It will be the Minister who decides which one).

Yes. Here is a link to the EPA’s advice to the Minister.

That is up to the Minister. But it is unlikely to be until early 2024.

If so, the application will be treated as previously advised. Both councils will appoint independent commissioners to hear the application.

The appointment of independent commissioners is not unusual. It provides an extra layer of rigor and reassurance before decisions are made.

Council has no official view on the application. Council is legally obliged to process the application under the Resource Management Act and that process is now underway.

The applicant, Global Contracting Solutions.

Please email dutyplanner@waipadc.govt.nz and we will put you in touch with the right person.