We all know that the Lonely Planet named the Scenic Rim one of the top ten global regions to visit in 2022, and earlier this year the region achieved ECO Destination Certification with Ecotourism Australia. This was the result of meeting global best-practice standards in ecotourism and environmental conservation, backed by a strong, well-managed commitment to sustainable practices.
The Scenic Rim has spectacular landscapes, six national parks, World Heritage-listed Gondwana Rainforests, eco-adventures, agritourism galore with fresh local produce, craft beer, wines and beverages. The region thrives on the success of Eat Local Month and our Farm Gate Trails, thanks to our remarkable local producers.
While we’re working together to keep the Scenic Rim spectacular, do you know there’s an enormous waste to energy plant proposed for Bromelton, 6km from Beaudesert ?
Communities around Australia and in fact the world are campaigning against these facilities.
Can we afford to have one of the largest incinerators in Australia operating here ?
To find out more about the potential impacts on you, your children, your business and your community, Keep the Scenic Rim Scenic is holding a public forum at the Beaudesert Community Arts and Information Centre at 2pm on Sunday 9 November. We encourage everyone to attend. Come early for a tea or coffee.
Experts in the field of health, farming, waste and the environment will be speaking on their experiences and concerns this proposal brings.
Waste incinerators release toxic air pollutants, produce toxic ash, and are the dirtiest form of energy production.
They are a polluting, expensive and unsustainable technology that undermines zero waste circular economy strategies, such as recycling and composting; and stifles innovation in the waste management and energy sectors.
By competing for the same materials as recycling operations, incinerators undermine the recycling sector and destroy valuable resources and their embedded energy. The alternative of recycling and re-use of materials retains most of that embedded energy and reduces the inputs to the production and consumption cycle.
Much of the waste material burned in incinerators is based on petrochemicals. These include plastic bottles, bags, packaging, synthetic textiles and even electronic waste. Petrochemicals are fossil fuels and burning plastics derived from fossil fuels does not create ‘green’ energy – it is simply burning fossil fuels in another form.
By claiming to produce ‘green’ energy, incinerator operators can obtain public subsidies, credits, tax breaks and transferable benefits that should be spent on assisting real ‘green’ energy projects such as wind, wave and solar power.
Independent studies have reported that waste management systems that use recycling, re-use, composting and anaerobic digestion generate many more jobs and far outstrip the few positions required to run an incinerator.
Waste incineration entrenches a linear economy in our society that relies on the extraction of virgin materials and rewards consumptive and wasteful lifestyle choices.
Our society needs to transition as soon as possible to a circular economy where resources are not destroyed through landfills or incineration but rather are conserved through reuse, recycling and composting schemes generally known as zero waste solutions.
