Bisinella calls out Vic Gov for ‘doubling down’ on incinerators

The State Government has been called out for “unleashing a fleet of incinerators” in a bid to meet ambitious emission targets.

Richard Bisinella has backed in Deputy PM Richard Marles’ comments about the proposed Lara incinerator. Picture: Mark Wilson

The state government is “doubling down” on waste to energy in a scramble to meet emission targets without letting power costs blow out, a Lara businessman has claimed.

The Victorian Government has last year reportedly doubled the limit of how much waste is burned via incineration per year.

Lara developer Richard Bisinella said the caps were raised because the government was facing a “perfect storm” in seeking to meet emissions targets while delivering affordable energy.

Mr Bisinella is a long-time campaigner against a proposal to build a waste to energy incinerator in Lara.

He said the government had realised it was unable to stick to renewable targets as coal and gas were shut down and its silence was “contemptible”.

“The state is committed to ambitious targets to reduce emissions and increase the use of renewable forms of energy such as solar and wind, which is obviously to be welcomed,” he said.

“But the idea of doing so by unleashing a fleet of heavily polluting incinerators generating a marginal net energy benefit is absurd.”

Lino and Richard Bisinella at the site of the proposed Lara incinerator on McManus Road. Picture: Mike Dugdale

The Lara facility, planned by Prospect Hill International, aims to process 400,000 tonnes of waste annually, generating 35 megawatts of electricity.

The Environment Protection Authority granted a development licence in December 2023, but this decision is under appeal.

Mr Bisinella said incinerators required a lot of waste to generate sufficient energy to make it cost effective.

“Let’s be clear – waste to energy is very old technology,” he said.

“By its own figures, the state believes waste to energy will provide less than 1 per cent of our baseload power, and surely there are smarter, cleaner and more sustainable ways to achieve this?”

Proposed Lara Incinerator. Source: Prospect Hill International

“We obviously can’t keep sending our waste to landfill, but nor can we burn our way to sustainability.”

The proposal has attracted widespread opposition from the community, businesses, state and federal MPs and members of the opposition.

Concerns include its proximity to homes – just 350m away – potential health risks, environmental impact, and the towering 80m-tall chimney altering the region’s skyline.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, whose electorate of Corio takes in the proposed location of the incinerator, called on the state government to scrap the plans at a press conference on Monday.

“In my view, this should be brought to an end, and the sooner that happens, the better it is,” he said.

The Victorian Government refused to weigh in on Mr Marles’ comments.

It comes after the Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny refused to hand decision-making authority over the proposal to the Geelong council despite having sat on it for years.

Originally published as Bisinella calls out Vic Gov for ‘doubling down’ on incinerators