An incinerator in Matraville is bad for the local community and bad for Sydney.
It threatens the health, safety, amenity and natural environment.
A Matraville Incinerator would risk public health, damage the environment and impact thousands of people.
Here are 10 reasons to say no.
1. Risk to human health
Incineration produces toxic pollutants like dioxins that can accumulate in people, the food chain and environment. Overseas, dioxins have been found in chicken eggs and breast milk and have been linked to birth defects .
2. Toxic air pollutants
Incinerators produce a wide variety of toxic air pollutants including carcinogenic persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as dioxins and furans .
3. Nanoparticles
Incinerators emit nanoparticles, toxic heavy metals such as lead, mercury and arsenic and acid gases that have serious impacts on human health.
4. Chimney stack
A 60 m high (same height as the Sydney Opera House) stack would produce emissions 24/7.
5. More trucks
21 semi-trailers would truck in about 450 tonnes of waste to Matraville each day to burn.
6. Burning rubbish
The incinerator would burn 165,000 tonnes of rubbish material each year such as plastic, textiles and furniture.
7. Toxic by-products
The incineration process produces by-products so toxic that only one facility in NSW is licensed to receive it for disposal to landfill.
8. Close to homes
People’s homes are located just 130 metres away in Partanna Ave.
9. Affects 500,000 people
Approximately 5,000 people live within 1km of the site and over half a million live within 10km.
10. Operates 24/7
The incinerator would never close – operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to supply steam and power to OPAL’s paper mill.
