News
17 October, 2026
Committee to table Energy from Waste report
The Select Committee on Proposed Energy from Waste Facilities will table its report in NSW Parliament next week.
The Select Committee on Proposed Energy from Waste Facilities will table its report in NSW Parliament next week.
Chair of the committee, Nationals MLC Nichole Overall, will table the report in the Upper House on Tuesday (October 20) at approximately 12.30pm.
Members of the public wanting to attend are asked to be seated in the public gallery by 12 noon.
The Select Committee was established in August last year to inquire into and report on proposed energy from waste facilities – including those at Tarago near Goulburn and at Parkes.
The committee has been looking at the performance of the technologies proposed for Tarago and Parkes compared to leading thermal technologies being used at ‘state of the art’ facilities overseas.
The committee has also been looking at the environmental and health impacts of large-scale waste incineration, the impacts of waste dumping over a number of decades at Tarago and alternative solutions to reduce and manage residual waste produced by Greater Sydney.
As reported by The Southern Wire, speaker after speaker lined up at a public forum in Goulburn in May this year to express concerns over the impacts of a waste incinerator on human health, air and water quality, livestock and produce.
Speakers at a formal public hearing – also held in Goulburn as part of the inquiry – expressed similar concerns.
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.
The Southern Goulburn Mulwaree Precinct (Woodlawn) is one of only four designated precincts across the state where Energy from Waste facilities will actually be allowed.
Veolia is proposing to build an ‘Advanced Energy Recovery Centre’ at its Woodlawn Precinct converting waste trucked from Sydney into electricity.
However, speakers at the forum said the Goulburn area shouldn’t be used as a dumping ground for Sydney’s waste and questioned Veolia’s environmental performance.
Member for Goulburn Wendy Tuckerman told the Select Committee during the public hearing that the Tarago hearing lacked social licence.
She said Veolia’s performance with the Woodlawn landfill had “shaped the lived experience” of Tarago residents and it was unfair to ask them to accept an additional unknown risk and long-term uncertainty.
A Veolia spokesperson has told The Southern Wire that there will be no increase in the volume of waste being transported to Veolia if the incinerator is approved.
He said waste would be diverted from what is currently being transported to the Woodlawn landfill but there would be no extra waste added on top of Veolia’s existing licence and there would be no additional trains or heavy vehicle movements.
Ms Overall said at the conclusion of the public hearing in Goulburn that the committee was taking the issue “incredibly seriously” and would give it the respect it deserves.
The committee received more than 1000 submissions which can all be viewed online at www.parliament.nsw.gov.au
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