*Pic: site of the dump
Southern Beaches Conservation Society (SBCS) has always maintained that the Copping C Cell is a bad idea. This has been further validated by Southern Waste Solutions (SWS) now admitting on record that their proposed C cell, to be located at the ‘super dump’ at Copping lacks a viable business case.
It is clear that SWS has approached this landfill development with a ‘build it and they will come’ mantra. This reckless approach has now been laid bare by the fact that SWS have been unable to confirm an anchor tenant nearly three years after it was first approved by Sorell Council – despite the development being “deemed critical” for the State.
It appears that SWS is now desperately pleading for government and corporate support to prop up a clearly unviable venture. SBCS believes that such support and investment would be better targeted at reforming Tasmania’s waste management sector through innovative and sustainable waste management solutions that fit with Tasmania’s ‘clean, green’ image.
The withdrawal of potential bulk waste supply from the Macquarie Point redevelopment in favour of more “appropriate and cost effective” remediation methods demonstrates the redundant nature of landfill as a waste management solution moving forward.
SBCS believes that linking the viability of Hobart, as a gateway to Antarctica, to the viability of its C cell, by SWS, is both irresponsible and fanciful.
SBCS President Shane Humpherys asks, “does SWS now intend to fill its proposed 300,000 tonne facility with international hazardous waste via Antarctica? If so, why should SWS’s previously stated moral imperative “we have to be responsible for the waste we produce,” not extend to international Antarctic treaty nations? These nations should be responsible for repatriating their own waste”
SBCS will continue to represent community concerns and promote sustainable waste management practices, alternative to landfill.
