Rural
21 October, 2026
Committee recommends that Tarago facility be rejected
A NSW Legislative Council Inquiry into Energy from Waste facilities has recommended that Veolia’s plans for an ‘Advanced Energy Recovery Centre’ at Tarago be rejected.
A NSW Legislative Council Inquiry into Energy from Waste facilities has recommended that Veolia’s plans for an ‘Advanced Energy Recovery Centre’ at Tarago be rejected.
Chair of the committee, Nationals MLC Nichole Overall, tabled its report in the Upper House on Tuesday.
One of the report’s recommendations is that the NSW Government “not proceed with approval of the current proposed regional New South Wales waste-to-energy facilities in the absence of numerous critical elements, but most significantly, the absence of conclusive social licence and community acceptance, including from local councils and Aboriginal Land Councils”.
The other proposed facility was in Parkes.
The committee has also recommended that the NSW Government place a moratorium on all current waste-to-energy proposals and commission an independent, transparent review of all designated precincts, “including the site-selection criteria and processes, the restriction to regional areas, and the inconsistencies of the current restricted regional precinct model, with the full findings and analysis publicly released”.
The NSW Waste and Sustainable Material Strategy 2041 – released in 2021 – identified the need for at least four Energy from Waste facilities in NSW by 2041.
Under the Energy from Waste Infrastructure Plan, any Energy from Waste facility must be located within one of four designated precincts: the Southern Goulburn Mulwaree Precinct (Woodlawn), West Lithgow/Wallerawang Precinct, Parkes Special Activation Project or the Richmond Valley Regional Jobs Precinct.
The report will be welcomed by residents of the Tarago area who lined up at a public forum in Goulburn earlier this year to express concerns over the impacts of a waste incinerator on human health, air and water quality, livestock and produce.
They believe they have suffered with the consequences of Sydney’s waste problem long enough.
Ms Overall said the Tarago landfill was only supposed to be a transitional arrangement but 30 years after being established was now nearing capacity.
She said the NSW Government still faced the same “underlying structural challenges” when it came to dealing with Sydney’s waste beyond 2030.
“The NSW government needs to look beyond the next landfill deadline, the next facility or the next immediate crisis and ensure that decisions made today do not simply shift the burden of waste from one community to another and from one generation to another,” she said.
Ms Overall told the Upper House that it was almost universally agreed that waste was best managed as close to its source as possible.
“Transporting hundreds of thousands of tonnes of metropolitan waste to regional facilities hundreds of kilometres away adds to costs, emissions and impacts, including on local infrastructure and will essentially be borne by councils and passed on to ratepayers,” she said.
And Energy from Waste facilities should by no means be considered a silver bullet.
“Those supportive of the technology provided information and examples of waste-to-energy facilities' safe operation, primarily in international settings and outlined commitments to 'stringent' and 'best-practice' regulation and control, the environmental benefits and economic opportunities,” Ms Overall said.
“However, the Committee is concerned at the expectation for proponents to be ultimately responsible for engagement, dissemination of information and consultation.
“At the conclusion of the inquiry, the central dilemmas remained.
“These include the lack of transparency and consistency around site selection processes, including the economic rationale. So too, a failure to gain broad community acceptance.
“Both the New South Wales and Federal governments have acknowledged that in relation to the renewable energy rollout and data centres, social licence must be prioritised,” Ms Overall said.
“That principle should apply equally to waste-to-energy proposals.
“Regulatory approval does not, of itself, confirm social licence.
“Public confidence and trust must be built through transparent decision-making, credible independent assessment and genuine, guaranteed opportunities for affected communities to influence decisions before they become effectively irreversible.”
The committee received 1421 submissions and also heard from people at five hearing forums and two public forums.
It travelled to Goulburn in May for a public forum and public hearing at the Goulburn Workers Club and a Woodlawn site visit.
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