Communities Against The Tarago Incinerator (CATTI) Inc
CATTI is a community-led organisation opposing Veolia's proposal to build a waste-to-energy (WTE) incinerator near Tarago, in the NSW Southern Tablelands.
CATTI stands for preserving the clean environment of Tarago and the Southern Tablelands and managing waste in a more sustainable manner through reuse, genuine recycling and transition to a truly circular economy.
We would like to show our respects and acknowledge the Ngunnawal, Gundungurra Pejar, and Ngambri people who are the Traditional Custodians of the Land which will be impacted by this project, and to their Elders past, present and emerging.
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2025 Federal Election
What are the candidates' positions on the incinerator?
The 3 May 2025 Australian federal election is an opportunity to make Veolia's proposal to burn Sydney's waste in Tarago a major issue. While the NSW Government is the ultimate consent authority, our federal representatives can be strong and influential public voices in support of the community against these proposals, as has occurred in Victoria.
Tarago is located within the electorate of Eden-Monaro which is being hotly contested, so we've reached out to all the candidates to ask their position on the incinerator and what they will do if elected in support of the local community. Their responses are below in the order in which they will appear on the ballot paper
If you'd like to press the candidates - contact them directly and to let them know how important this issue is!
Andrew Thaler - Independent
Position: Opposed
andrew@scrapyard.com.au
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550585107486
Comment/statement:
Now this is tricky to answer: I do believe we need to look at waste incineration to deal with the ever growing problem of waste.. I would support gasification and plasma-enhanced destruction of the selected waste streams, though not at the scale described for your area.
I much prefer smaller and more distributed situation where greater care can be applied to the waste stream, knowing that disposable wrappings/packagingis predominantly Polyethylene based these days and not PVC.. but, contamination is an major problem.
It’s a very tough problem, and there are mature technologies in operation across Europe. I know that we can continue to landfill for a long time yet, where we are also considering using old coal mine voids.. but inevitably I still think we need to look to energy recovery if we cannot recover the plastic itself from within the waste streams.
Wade Cox - Trumpet of Patriots
Position: UNKNOWN
Eden-Monaro@trumpetofpatriots.org
https://trumpetofpatriots.org/candidates/wade-cox/
Comment/statement:
Awaiting response to email sent 8 April (Eden-Monaro@trumpetofpatriots.org)
Fraser Buchanan - HEART Party
Position: Opposed
fraser@heartparty.com.au
https://heartparty.com.au/Fraser-Buchanan
https://www.facebook.com/fraser.buchanan.58
Comment/statement:
Thanks for revealing this proposal to me, it is concerning I do not know the answer to the real problem other than a huge cultural shift from chemical waste from products made with harmful chemical and toxic material to only biodegradable recyclable minimally harmful materials, which is where i will push for us to head toward.
But in the meantime they have a major waste problem needing to be dealt with, and I don't see this as an appropriate answer as the environment and the public may suffer from the pollutants in the atmosphere or through the ground, so i do believe these sorts of facilities should be as far away as possible from people and animals, waterways, we are living in a world that requires significant reform and change in so many areas and this is one of them, I will push for such change,
We at the heartparty.com.au have a very strong ambition to clean everything up before it is to late.
Jo van der Plaat - Liberal
Position: Opposed
jo.vanderplaat@nswliberal.org.au
https://nswliberal.org.au/jo-van-der-plaat
https://www.facebook.com/joforedenmonaro
Comment/statement:
At the Meet the Candidates in Goulburn event a specific question was put to the candidates on the incinerator and I confirmed I was opposed to the incinerator. I have also recently attended a meeting with Longwater Ag to discuss next steps.
This is a State government issue and the lack of meaningful response from Federal candidates I expect might be because we have very little influence over the decision making powers of a Labor State Government.
I don't think the matter will be resolved without going to a panel for determination and if that's the case, then there needs to be a credible alternative, rather than just saying "we don't want it here". The suggestion that a precinct area be established in Western Sydney is a good one, but one that needs further exploration.
If elected, I am committed to continuing to working with Wendy Tuckerman and the local community in ensuring there are credible alternative options closer to Sydney, which have no impact on our region and the important role it plays as our region's food bowl.
Brian Fisher - Independent
Position: UNKNOWN
https://www.facebook.com/brian.fisher.independent.for.eden.monaro
Comment/statement:
Awaiting response to Facebook message sent 15 April (no advertised email address or webpage)
Kristy McBain - Labor (ALP)
Position: Opposed
Kristy.McBain.MP@aph.gov.au
https://www.kristymcbain.com.au/
https://www.facebook.com/kristymcbainMP
Comment/statement:
As you are aware, I recently met with your group and I thank you for taking me through your concerns, I also recently met with the Goulburn Cross Party Group Against the Incinerator.
I share both groups' concerns about the impact the proposed incinerator would have on local residents, local industries and the environment - and I am opposed to its development and believe it should be rejected by the NSW Government.
Although the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction over the proposal as it does not trigger the EPBC Act, I have written to the Premier and the NSW Government to directly express the concerns of the community over the proposed incinerator and have invited the Premier to hear directly from residents about their concerns.
I am also deeply concerned about Veolia's ongoing breaches of its licence conditions and question whether it can be trusted to deliver the proposed incinerator. Tarago's current facilitaty doesn't allow Goulburn Mulwaree residents to dispose of their waste there, and neither will the incinerator. Sydney's waste is a problem for Sydney.
I look forward to contine engaging on this matter and advocating for a better outcome for Tarago residents.
Emma Goward - The Greens
Position: Opposed
edenmonaro.federal@nsw.greens.org.au
https://greens.org.au/nsw/person/emma-goward
https://www.facebook.com/GreensEdenMonaro
Comment/statement:
I oppose Veolia's incinerator proposal at Tarago. Burning 380,000 tonnes of Sydney's waste in our region is not a solution, it’s a threat to our environment, health and future. It's the wrong direction for waste management and completely disregards the rights of regional communities to clean air, water, and a healthy environment.
Over the past few months at local markets and community events we have spoken to many residents who've voiced strong concerns about this proposal. The message has been clear, our communities do not want this incinerator. People are worried about the long-term health impacts, the environmental damage, and the precedent it sets for regional areas being treated as dumping grounds for city waste.
If elected, I will strongly advocate at a federal level to stope this project. That means supporting community voices like CATTI, pushing for national bans on waste incineration, and calling for investment in genuine zero-waste strategies like reuse, repair, and local recycling infrastructure, not toxic burn-offs that only benefit big corporations. I believe we need a zero-waste future that puts communities and the environment first. I mean, I am a Green after all.
Thank you for the tireless work your group has done to protect our region and I stand with you.
Richard Graham - One Nation
Position: Opposed
Comment/statement:
I’m not so sure how aware you are of my work against the proposed Veolia incinerator at Woodlawn, but it has been substantial and active since 2022, albeit coordinated through the Long Water Ag Association. My 2022 opposition submission is attached. I have also prepared two other opposition papers. One opposing the EPA’s ‘Options Paper’ which is ready to send, and the other is in waiting for IPC submissions.
I want you and your members to know that should I be elected, I will use all in my scope to stop its approval, no ifs, ands, or buts. While I understand that approval is in the domain of the State, the Commonwealth has powers to bring to play as well.
What is Veolia proposing?
Veolia proposes to build a waste-to-energy incinerator at their existing Woodlawn Bioreactor landfill site in the Goulburn Mulwaree NSW council region near Tarago.
The incinerator would:
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Burn 380,000 tonnes per year of municipal, commercial, industrial, construction and demolition waste from Sydney containing plastic, metals and types;
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Dispose of toxic residual fly ash leftover from the incineration process at the site;
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Operate 24 hours a day, 365 days per year for a lifespan of 30 years;
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Produce 30MW of power (a coal-fired power plant with equivalent emissions produces 876,000MW of power.
The predicted range of the incinerator's toxic plume
For more information on the predicted plume go to our Plume plotter page.
Read our CATTI Submission to the NSW EPA Energy from Waste Framework Review 2025
CATTI made a submission to the NSW EPA's review of their incinerator framework making clear we unequivocally reject any attempt to legitimise waste incineration as a solution to NSW’s waste management issues. We further reject the premise that energy from waste incineration represents a safe, sustainable or equitable pathway forward.
The EPA's proposals, under the guise of managing Sydney's waste growth, will result in:
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Irreversible harm to regional communities;
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Worsening public health outcomes;
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Increased climate and toxic pollution;
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Displacement of more sustainable waste practices; and
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Further erosion of public trust in environmental governance.
The people of Tarago—and NSW—deserve a cleaner, healthier and more just future, not one built on burning waste and burning trust.
Veolia's Project Amendment - July 2024
In July 2024, Veolia announced they want to change the way they dispose of air pollution control residue (APCr) – the 15,200 tonnes of highly toxic ‘fly ash’ full of dioxins, furans, PFAS, lead, mercury and arsenic that would be produced every year. Instead of disposing of it in the encapsulation cell Veolia has been telling us for years would provide safety to the local environment, soil and water table, they now want to dump it in the landfill on site using methods they are still “investigating”.
Veolia has struggled to control leachate (contaminated water) at their existing Tarago landfill site in recent years, and the EPA has instructed them to improve their leachate management following several pollution incidences over the past few years. As a result, Veolia needs to build more leachate storage dams (to store millions of megalitres of leachate), and they will no longer have room onsite to build the encapsulation cell where they previously planned to store hazardous waste ash byproducts (APCr / flyash).
Where will they now dump this hazardous waste?
Veolia has stated they now propose to ‘stabilise’ this hazardous material and dump it straight into the existing Woodlawn landfill in Tarago. To add additional concerns, Veolia’s new plans also propose transporting this hazardous material through our towns and alongside our homes and farms to alternative waste disposal sites in Sydney and Queensland when necessary (e.g. when doing facility maintenance), or if the EPA does not approve them to use the landfill as a dump. The Sydney waste facility they propose to use will close within the next decade, so if the incinerator is approved, for a considerable period of its operation hazardous waste material will need to be transported to Queensland!
Are they seriously proposing to transport hazardous material to QLD?!?
Yes, and it just demonstrates the ludicrousy of this incinerator proposal. It’s not a green solution. It creates huge volumes of toxic waste byproduct, the pollution risks of that toxic byproduct need to be managed for decades to come, and to do that they need to transport the waste to another State because there are insufficient NSW waste facilities to manage this hazardous material. You can read more about Veolia’s proposed amendment to the project on the Department of Planning’s Major Projects Portal (amendments dropdown) at: https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/major-projects/projects/woodlawn-advanced-energy-recovery-centre
Environmental risks of the major amendment for hazardous waste management
Veolia’s proposal to change the way they will manage the hazardous waste ash produced by an incinerator heighten the risks for environmental pollution. The waste ash is highly toxic, containing forever chemicals like dioxins and furans, PFAS, and heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium and lead. If the waste ash is dumped into landfill (likely mixed with cement first), this risks the acidic leachate in the landfill eroding any ‘stabilising’ compound the ash is mixed with and releasing the toxic materials into the landfill. That leachate now contaminated with toxic chemicals can then seep into groundwater and into local waterways or be sprayed into the air by Veolia’s leachate evaporators on their leachate evaporation dams.
Veolia has a terrible environmental record at Woodlawn and they have already had a number of EPA penalty notices for pollution offences such as groundwater contamination and improper leachate management. Additionally, as Veolia plans to also transport the waste offsite, there are any number of ways in which this could result in a spill at local towns and farms and into waterways.
This is a company that claims to be an expert in incineration, yet they are still scrambling to find a way to meet safety and environmental conditions set by government.
Veolia has had more than three years to get this proposal right, yet they are now making further changes on the run and claiming they won’t be able to provide the details and respond to the 619 objections lodged against the project until late 2024 or early 2025!
Beware of Veolia ‘engagement’
Veolia are holding a number of ‘community engagement’ events on the major amendments, despite having no detail to share and having NOT yet finished any studies to determine the safety of what they are proposing. If you happen to attend any of these events, ensure you view any information provided by Veolia and their paid experts with the scepticism deserved for a world-class environmental polluter with a track record of providing false and misleading information to the community.
Remember, Veolia’s staff and consultants are paid to convince you this proposal is a good idea – they are not there to provide independent analysis or advice, or accurately record your objections and concerns. They are focused on delivering a project that will earn their company millions of dollars in profits over the next 25 years at the expense of the surrounding community.
The NSW Government can easily fix the situation.
The NSW Government can easily recognise the complete lack of social license for this proposal and the damage it would do to the region's health, environment and economy. A quick and easy amendment to existing regulations could see them ban incinerators in the Southern Tablelands in the same way they have been banned in Sydney and across most of the state.
Send members of Goulburn and Monaro electorates emails or Facebook messages.
If you see them out and about, raise it with them in person – push them for more than just a statement of their personal opposition.
Goulburn Electorate:
Wendy Tuckerman (Liberal)
ElectorateOffice.Goulburn@parliament.nsw.gov.au / goulburn@nswliberal.org.au
Monaro Electorate:
Steve Whan (Labor)
steve.whan@nswlabor.org.au
Other Electorates:
And if you live further afield, contact your local member with the same message – that there is no place for an incinerator in Tarago or anywhere in the Southern Tablelands!
Submission to object to a toxic waste incinerator near Lake George closed on 13/12/22
Read our Communities Against The Tarago Incinerator (CATTI) EIS formal objection
Read and share our easy-to-understand factsheets
Why are CATTI opposing Veolia's WTE incinerator?
Because scientific research shows waste-to-energy (WTE) incinerators:
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pollute the surrounding air, waterways and land with dangerous toxins such as mercury, lead and persistent environmental pollutants such as dioxins (See source 1);
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pose serious health risks for nearby residents and anyone drinking water from the surrounding water catchment or food produced nearby (See source 2);
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put dangerous toxins into the human food chain (See source 3). Tarago and the surrounding region is a big agricultural producer of lamb, beef, chicken, wine, and other human food and livestock feed;
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contribute to global warming and climate change (See source 4);
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do not form part of a sustainable waste management plan for the future - they are more climate polluting per unit of energy than coal, oil and gas (See source 4) ;
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discourage the 3R's (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) of best-practice, sustainable waste management (See source 5);
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poses a commercial risk to local industry, businesses and livelihoods (especially agriculture) (See source 6);
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in rural areas encourages an "out-of-sight, out-of-mind" approach to the management of Sydney's waste problems (See source 7);
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are inefficient and ineffective energy producers and are not recognised as a sustainable energy resource (See source 8);
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do not form part of the circular economy model that Australia is shifting to (See source 12);
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create highly toxic fly ash that then needs to be transported and stored in containment cells for generations to come (See source 9);
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require a highly sorted and consistent waste stream to manage filtration of particulate emissions (See source 11);
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will increase the already dangerous numbers of trucks on Tarago's narrow and poorly maintained rural roads (See source 11);
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will increase the amount of garbage arriving in Tarago, and intensify odour problems the town experiences from the current Veolia operations (See source 11);
Veolia has misled the Goulburn Mulwaree community about previous developments, cannot manage the odour and emissions from its current operations, and has demonstrated a lack of concern for community wellbeing (See source 10);
NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) fines and interventions have not effectively improved odour and emissions for Tarago and surrounding residents and EPA oversight of a WTE incinerator is likely to be similarly ineffective (See source 10);
We want to provide our much-loved future generations with a healthy life using safe, sustainable and best-practice waste management.
For a more in-depth look at the research on the health, safety and environmental risks of WTE incineration, take a look at our Research page.
For more information on the risks and health impacts of waste-to-energy incineration explore our Frequently Asked Questions page.
Our Aim
What is CATTI aiming to achieve?
We want Veolia to halt plans for an incinerator and focus on improving its current operations so that they no longer adversely affect the town. While residents still need to make regular reports to the EPA about issues with the Woodlawn Precinct operations, Veolia has no social licence to propose further development (See source 10). We want to see a sustainable and future-focussed waste management plan and a community-friendly alternative to a WTE incinerator.
We also want the EPA and NSW Government to deny Veolia's proposal for a waste incinerator at Tarago and thereby acknowledge that the health, homes and livelihoods of rural residents and their children matter just as much the health, homes and livelihoods of people living in Sydney's urban areas.
What is CATTI doing to stop the incinerator project?
We're working with other community organisations, councils and other local areas impacted by the government's WTE Infrastructure Plan to coordinate a community response to Veolia's proposal.
We are:
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providing the community with an open dialogue about the issue;
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providing the community with research, information and the resources to see and understand the risks associated with Veolia's proposed incinerator;
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providing a supportive place for people to ask questions about the development;
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encouraging the community to make their concerns known;
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helping the community formulate an effective and coordinated opposition to the development;
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providing resources and advice to help the community take action to oppose the development;
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supporting other communities also opposing WTE incinerator proposals and planning.
Join the fight
Does CATTI need your help?
Yes.
The more people who register their opposition to the development, the better chance we have that our community will be taken seriously and our concerns actioned. We need you to register your opposition to Veolia's proposal.
How can I help?
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Contact the upcoming NSW government members and put pressure on!
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Contribute money by visiting our Go Fund Me page to help us meet our operational costs and get the word out. All money goes towards fighting the incinerator.
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Fill out our contact form to join our email list to stay updated on the campaign and be notified of important deadlines and timeframes.
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Go to and join our Facebook group. Ask questions and support your community to fight the development.
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Email or write to your local and federal MP letting them know you oppose the incinerator development. Feel free to include some of the information and references available on this site. It's very important to ask that your correspondence also be forwarded to the Minister for an answer to your questions.
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Encourage your neighbours, friends and family to take action.
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Display a sign in your front yard or on your fenceline opposing the proposed incinerator.
Got any questions or ideas? Go to and fill out our contact form. Let's work together to stop this thing!
Read our newsletter!
Go to our newsletter page to see 'The Tarago Toxic Burner' - the best way to stay up to date with what's happening in our fight to save our community from Veolia's Toxic 'Waste-to-Energy' incinerator.