Stephen Ward/Stuff
Hamiltons GMS Recycling’s managing director Craig Tuhoro said that the proposed plant would not harm the environment. We want to improve it.
A key figure behind a controversial waste-to energy power plant and recycling plant for Te Awamutu is certain it can safely operate, despite environmental concerns.
We are not trying to harm the environment. We are trying to improve it,” said Craig Tuhoro (Ngti Maniapoto and Ngti Apakura), Hamiltons Global Metal Solutions’ managing director. The company won the Mori exporter award in 2021.
The multi-million dollar Paewira Recycle Plant at Racecourse Rd would recycle material and burn it to make power. It will use food packaging waste from McDonalds, which cannot be recycled, as its fuel.
Three environmental groups raised concerns regarding potential health effects of plant emissions. These included dioxin, which can be fatal, and how to deal toxic leftover ash.
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GMS subsidiary Global Contracting Services, (GCS), provided documentation to Waip District Council, stating that any contaminants produced would have effects no greater than minor to none at all.
Stephen Ward/Stuff
Adam Fletcher is the project director for Global Contracting Services. He says it is hoped that plant earthworks will begin in October.
Tuhoro stated Wednesday that he is confident they can address any concerns regarding plant discharges in an interview at GMSs Frankton headquarters. He said that their thinking would be based upon the science that has been thoroughly scrutinised.
Plant systems could reduce emissions to levels that are safer than safe.
He said that all of this must be vetted and proven scientifically.
Tuhoro believed they could also address concerns about noises and smells coming from the plant.
Adam Fletcher, GCS project director, said that there was criticism that the plant would rather burn waste than recycle it. He said that they would try to recycle as much as possible before burning.
Tuhoro said that we want anything of value. To maximize the extraction of revenue from waste, the plant will have high-quality technology like shredders or magnets.
However, if the material could be used for fuel (e.g. post-consumer materials that cannot be recycled efficiently), it would be incinerated. Tuhoro stated that there are times when more carbon can be made by recycling processes, such as significant transport, than incineration.
The project is considering using equity and debt financing, with activity expected at nearly $120million during construction.
Tuhoro suggested that a few partners could be the best way forward.
SUPPLIED
Artist’s impression of the proposed Te Awamutu Plant.
After receiving applications for the OK to proceed, both the Waikato regional council and Waip district councils want more information from the plant promoters.
Fletcher anticipated that he could provide all answers to any questions the council had by May’s end. Before they could begin building, they had to obtain operational consents.
It was hoped that earthworks could begin in October and the plant would be completed within two years.
Fletcher highlighted that the applications are not allowed to take water from the Mangapiko Stream, nor do they allow waste to be discharged into it. We want it to improve, not worsen.
When Trisia Farrelly (co-director of Massey University’s political ecology research center), was approached to comment on the proposed plant, she raised several concerns.
Incinerators, for example, waste more energy than they produce. This is primarily because the products we incinerate need to be replaced with new products, she stated in an email.
Farrelly stated that the process of extracting natural materials from the earth and then manufacturing and processing them into new materials for replacements incinerated materials takes up a lot more energy than reusing or recycling the materials we already have.
Incineration is the most costly and dirty form of energy production. It releases more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere per megawatt hour than coal.
GCS documentation however stated that many contaminants, including particulate matter and sulphur dioxide can be safely managed.
