A 'ring of fire' could soon burn around one of Australia's major cities

Sunbury has had a landfill for more than two decades, and now there are plans to burn more than 750,000 tonnes of rubbish a year here in a waste-to-energy incinerator. (ABC News: Norman Hermant) Link copiedShareShare articleJust 40 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, local residents in Sunbury have finally had enough of being the city's dumping ground. When soil contaminated with traces of PFAS was discovered while digging Melbourne's Metro Tunnel, it was disposed of here. Now, there are plans for a waste-to-energy incinerator that will burn 750,000 tonnes of rubbish a year. It will operate 24 hours a day, every day, for the next 30 years. "We're done with being treated as Melbourne's dumping ground," said Alison Medforth, addressing a rally against the proposed incinerator last month. "We are done being taken for granted and being ignored." Last year, she became increasingly concerned with plans for an incinerator just three kilometres from her home. She started a Facebook group that evolved into a fully-fledged campaign, No Sunbury Waste Incinerator. Alison Medforth's Facebook group evolved into a fully-fledged campaign. (ABC News: Norman Hermant) "This is all about waste management, and it is a quick fix to a long-term problem," she told 7.30. "It's going to have far-reaching consequences, not only for the communities where they're located, but all of Victoria." Waste-to-energy (WTE), also known as energy from waste, is a landfill alternative used around the world. Proponents bill it as a win-win: a way to divert rubbish from landfill and, at the same time, incinerate it to generate power for the grid. Mark Rodgers, CEO of HiQ, the company behind the planned Sunbury incinerator, told a Victorian parliamentary inquiry last month the proposal is a key part of managing the amount of rubbish heading to landfill. "Our Sunbury site has been in existence for 25 years, operating as a waste precinct," Mr Rodgers said. "We see the best way for [an energy from waste incinerator] to assist to manage the waste issue that we're having is part of an integrated precinct. And that's what we're proposing." However, in nearly every community where waste-to-energy plants are being proposed across Australia, they have attracted strong opposition. Waste-to-energy facilities are seen as a solution to the landfill shortage. (ABC News: Margaret Paul) No state has embraced WTE incineration more than Victoria. There are currently 11 licences making their way to final approval. Controversy has focused on what opponents and some state politicians have been calling the 'Ring of Fire' proposals around metropolitan Melbourne, with waste incinerators planned for Laverton North, Sunbury, Wollert, and Dandenong South. A map of Victoria, showing the planned locations of waste-to-energy plants surrounding Melbourne. (ABC News: Bill Maguire) "They're worried about paying their rent [and] their mortgages. "They're worried about how they're going to keep a roof over their head and afford groceries. Sometimes they're not going to have access and time to fight them as much as other communities might." In the suburbs south of Perth, waste-to-energy is already a reality. The Kwinana waste-to-energy incinerator started burning rubbish in September 2024. Not long after, Nelson Bettencourt noticed a change in the air quality in his adjacent suburb of Medina. "A plastic burning smell started hanging around," Mr Bettencourt told 7.30. "There'd be times where it just slowly got worse and then people started complaining, and then it'd be like three or four days in a row of it." Nelson Bettencourt noticed a change in the air quality in his adjacent suburb of Medina after the Kwinana waste-to-energy incinerator started burning rubbish. (ABC News: West Matteeussen) The WA government received the environmental commissioning report on the plant's performance last December. It told 7.30 it's not appropriate to release the report while the plant's licence application is still being assessed. The government also says it is aware of rising odour complaints in Kwinana. Mr Bettencourt said he's concerned enough to consider moving. "I'm not a scientist … but to me, if you're smelling plastic, burning … then that's got to be going into your lungs for sure. You know what I mean?" The key point of contention over incineration plants is air quality: Are the emissions safe? The plants are banned in Greater Sydney and the plan to place one in the regional centre of Parkes has been met with significant opposition. The waste reduction industry and state environmental protection agencies argue they are safe, and that much of the opposition to WTE incinerations is driven by misinformation. "Modern waste-to-energy facilities are not the incinerators of the past," said Gayle Sloan, CEO of industry peak body WMRR (Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia), as she addressed a Victorian parliamentary inquiry into waste-to-en

A 'ring of fire' could soon burn around one of Australia's major cities

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