Fiji rejects Australian billionaire's waste-to-energy plant proposal

The Fijian government has rejected a plan by an Australian billionaire to burn rubbish for energy in Fiji after backlash from traditional landowners and tourism operators.

The plan to ship non-recyclable rubbish from across the region to Fiji, popular with tourists for its pristine beaches, and build an incinerator to consume 900,000 tonnes of waste a year had been labelled “waste colonialism” by villagers.

Fiji’s ambassador to the UN, Filipo Tarakinikini, said in April that the Vuda coast north of Nadi “must not become the Pacific’s ashtray”.

Fiji’s environment ministry on Thursday said it had rejected The Next Generation Holdings’ (TNG) proposal for the energy-from-waste plant and a private port because of issues surrounding the scale of the project, imported waste, hazardous ash management and public health risks.

Questions over the impact on tourism and the environment, and the economic case for the project were also unresolved in material submitted by the company, the ministry said.

“This is not a decision against investment or against new waste solutions,” Fiji’s secretary for the environment, Sivendra Michael, said in a statement.

“The department was not satisfied that the potential impacts and risks of the project could be adequately assessed or managed.”

The fashion entrepreneur behind the Paris-born Kookai label and an Australian billionaire who made his fortune in rubbish disposal had earlier claimed government support for the waste incinerator, which was to be built within 15km (nine miles) of Fiji’s tourism gateway Nadi.

The Australian-based duo of Ian Malouf and Rob Cromb had told Fiji’s government the project could meet 40% of the country’s electricity needs, cutting its reliance on diesel.

However, an environmental impact statement that was lodged showed it would also raise Fiji’s national emissions by 25%.

Residents said the emissions would spoil Fiji’s eco-tourism reputation and pose a safety risk with hotels and schools nearby.

“Dial a dump” founder Malouf spent seven years trying to get a similar waste-to-energy incinerator approved in Sydney before it was rejected as a risk to human health in 2018.

Cromb, owner of the Paris fashion label Kookai, manufactures clothes in Fiji.

TNG had no immediate comment on the decision.