Fiji Blocks Controversial Australian-Backed Waste Incinerator Project
UK Sets January 2027 Deadline for Ban on Fuel Made From Russian Crude Consumers worldwide are increasingly investing… Felicity Bradstock is a writer and journalist based in Mexico City.
She writes for energy websites and covers several other industries, as well as writing… Fiji has rejected Australia’s proposal to ship waste to the South Pacific country to burn and produce energy, with Fiji’s ambassador to the UN, Filipo Tarakinikini,saying, “[We] must not become the Pacific’s ashtray.” The idea of exporting rubbish to Fiji to be burned for energy has quickly become known as “waste imperialism”, a concept that Fijians staunchly oppose due to health and environmental concerns.
In June, the Fijian government rejected a plan proposed by Australian billionaire Ian Malouf to export waste from Australia to Fiji to burn for energy production after traditional landowners and tourism operators called for the proposal to be quashed.
The Australia-based duo of Malouf and Rob Cromb, who is behind the Paris fashion label Kookai, had proposed the project to Fiji’s government, saying it had the potential to meet 40 per cent of the South Pacific country’s electricity needs, thereby reducing its reliance on diesel.
The duo proposed shipping up to 900,000 tonnes of non-recyclable rubbish to Fiji each year to incinerate.
Malouf is well-versed in the waste industry, having made his fortune in rubbish disposal with Dial a dump.
The billionaire said that building a port and a waste incinerator near the popular tourist destination of Nadi could help Fiji generate large amounts of electricity.
However, their company, Next Generation Holding (TNG), released an environmental impact statement that revealed the project would likely increase Fiji’s emissions by up to 25 per cent.
Residents quickly became concerned that the project could undermine Fiji’s reputation for eco-tourism and threaten health and environmental safety.
Following the proposal, Inoke Tora, a traditional landowner,argued, “There are hundreds of people living in villages in this place, and they fish each day, eat fresh crabs.
They call that beach paradise… The government should stop this.” Meanwhile, Ambassador Tarakinikini warned that “Ash residue and dioxins would contaminate the food chain.” While Malouf and Cromb said that the Fijian government had previously demonstrated support for the project, many Fijians criticised the proposal, labelling it “waste imperialism”.
Meanwhile, opponents of the project have pointed out that it would breach a 1998 convention signed by Australia, which prohibits the shipment of hazardous waste to any Pacific island country.
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