The Victorian government’s “circular economy” plan includes waste to energy incinerators. There are proposals for their construction all around the state including two very close to Merri-bek: Wollert and Sunbury.

Yet the evidence to ban them is clear:

‘Incinerators are one of the most toxic, expensive, dangerous, and climate-polluting industries. Falsely advertised as a solution to a waste crisis that stems from over production and consumption, incinerators not only deter funding from strategies that offer real solutions, but are manifestations of environmental racism. Those most affected by their negative impacts are the least responsible for our waste crisis—lower income communities, communities of color, and marginalized communities. Incinerators emit 68% more greenhouse gases per unit of energy than coal plants. Despite being a major contributor to climate change, the incinerator industry stays afloat by relying on renewable energy credits, costly subsidies, and externalized costs. Public money—millions in tax dollars—is in this way siphoned into incinerators and taken away from real renewables and other sustainable solutions that are significantly more cost-effective.’ Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA)

Local community advocacy groups, individuals, residents’ groups and experts have made it very clear to the Victorian government that Waste Incinerators are not welcome and are dangerous! Many wrote submissions and spoke to the “Inquiry into the development and expansion of waste-to-energy (WtE) infrastructure in Victoria” held by the Upper House of our Victorian Parliament earlier this year. The report was tabled in August and fails to recommend a clear banning or exclusion of “waste to energy” incinerators from government waste management plans.

The content of the Inquiry’s report confirms much of why incinerators should be banned and yet does not recommend that action. However, a minority report written by one member of the committee, Dr Sarah Mansfield MLC, does recommend such a ban. She made three recommendations:

• “That the Victorian Government exclude thermal waste-to-energy facilities from the state’s waste management systems given the evidence about potential harm to human health, and inability to determine safe buffer zones to protect residents, food production and waterways.”
• “That the Victorian Government exclude thermal waste-to-energy from the state’s waste management systems given its incompatibility with climate and net zero objectives.”
• “That the Victorian Government amend The Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) Act 2021 to make it explicit that thermal waste-to-energy sits at the bottom of the waste hierarchy, and prohibit establishment of these facilities in Victoria.”

If Dr Mansfield and the other minority report author, David Ettershank MP, and the majority of the experts who spoke to the committee, all agree waste incinerators should not be built, and they are banned in other states and are being decommissioned in European countries, why aren’t they banned in Victoria?

Note: On the 25 August 2026, the Legislative Council Economy and Infrastructure Committee tabled its Final Report for the Inquiry into the development and expansion of waste-to-energy (WtE) infrastructure in Victoria. The Government has six months to respond to the report.

The report makes 59 findings and 33 recommendations to the Victorian Government. You can view the report on the Committee’s website here.