Wollert says No to MERC!!

Community Update:

1. The Victorian Parliament has opened an Inquiry into Waste Incineration. Make a submission before 3 April 2026 to protect our community!

Why this matters:

• Health and air quality: Emissions could harm our children, families, and schools.
• Location near growing communities: Wollert is rapidly expanding — industrial incinerators do not belong near homes.
• Traffic and safety: Hundreds of extra garbage trucks daily will increase noise, congestion, and danger on our roads.
• Environmental impact: Pollution, toxic ash, and long-term damage to wildlife and farmland.
• Better solutions exist: Support recycling and sustainable waste practices — not burning waste.

Everyone can have a voice!
We encourage community members to write their submissions in their own language. Wollert is a diverse community with many languages spoken — all families deserve to be heard.

Your voice can make a real difference. Click here to submit: Victorian Parliament Inquiry by 3/4/26.

Either use our guide for ideas. The best submissions are clear, factual and personal. Guide. Email your submissions to: nonorthernincinerator@gmail.com

Act today: don’t let decisions be made without our voice!

2. Cleanaway doubles the Wollert Incinerator capacity
Cleanaway and Recycling Victoria announced they have doubled the size of the Wollert Incinerator – one of several incinerators now increasing capacity. If just 2% of toxins, heavy metals, and PFAS escape the filters (which are never 100% effective), that means 456,000 tonnes of toxins could silently pollute our air, water, and soil over 30 years. That’s not a “low risk” – that’s a serious threat to our health, wellbeing and the environment. Read Cleanaway’s announcement here: Cleanaway Announcement

3. Engage Victoria

Send rejection submissions to: development.approvals@transport.vic.edu.au

4. Stay tuned in early 2026, Cleanaway will resubmit their doubled application. EPA will then open for submissions in the first half of 2026, requiring the public to read 1000s of technical pages and then make comment for only 3 weeks. The more submissions the better our chances of defeating this.

Our Parliamentary petition, tabled in March, gathered an impressive 2,462 signatures—a clear sign of strong community concern. Victorian Parliament Petition

Importantly, Whittlesea Council stands with us and has confirmed it will not support any road upgrades linked to this proposal. Whittlesea Council Statement

But we can’t afford to slow down now. Every signature counts. Every voice matters. Please keep sharing the petition with family, friends, and neighbours. The more support we show, the stronger our message becomes.

Together, with unity and persistence, we can protect our community’s wellbeing.

Our neighbours, just 20 km away in Sunbury are fighting their own battle, with another Incinerator just as big. Between us we are fighting to stop over 1.5 million tonnes of waste per year being burnt. See below for the link to their Facebook page. 

 

The Petition: 

We are completely independent of any political party, and are just ordinary concerned citizens.

We, the undersigned, strongly oppose the installation of a waste to energy incinerator in Wollert, specifically the proposed Melbourne Energy and Resource Centre (MERC) by Cleanaway Operations Pty Ltd. We believe that this facility, designed to thermally treat 380,000 tonnes per annum of household, commercial, and industrial waste, poses significant risks to our community and environment. Furthermore, there is very little information available regarding the potential long-term impacts on the health of local families.

See the link for the proposal here: Clean Away Incinerator

The facts:

 

This facility will be located close to residential areas, schools, daycare centers, and playgrounds. There are 59 schools within a 10 km radius of this site. Wollert, situated in Melbourne’s outer north, is home to a significantly larger population of young families compared to many other suburbs in Victoria, with the median age being 30. Additionally, over 30% of the local population consists of school-aged children under 14 years old. It will be in close proximity to a retirement village (approximately 2 km away) and only 400 meters from Merri Creek feeders and 1.2 km from Merri Creek itself. 

The latest energy incinerator technologies emit dangerous persistent organic pollutants such as dioxin, PFAS, microplastics, toxic air pollutants, and heavy metals. They also generate large volumes of greenhouse gases and highly hazardous ash that requires treatment and disposal in landfills. Cleanaway intends to use 'Moving Grate' combustion technology, which is over 100 years old. If the latest incinerators emit these pollutants, what pollutants will 'Moving Grate' combustion technology produce? What will Cleanaway's Wollert facility produce?

In September 2023, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights concluded, 'Waste incineration is the end of the line for fossil fuels. It reflects a linear process that is incompatible with a circular economy. Incineration imposes heavy health and other costs on the local communities, and it is a significant source of greenhouse gases. It has been reported that even the most modern incinerators produce dioxins, furans and toxic ash."  In Wollert, this is a major concern for those with respiratory conditions including Asthma.  4.3% of the Wollert population suffer from Asthma.  source

Cleanaway does not currently own or operate any waste-to-energy incinerators in Australia and has no history of compliant operations. Rather, Cleanaway has been the subject of media reports over failures to safely operate landfills. Learn more about Cleanaway's poor track record here:  Cleanaway history

 

The real concerns:

 

We are VERY concerned about air and odour emissions, noise pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and their potential short- and long-term detrimental impacts on our health.  

At a time when Australia should be aligning its waste management policies with the principles of a circular economy and biodiversity protection, waste incineration contradicts these goals by perpetuating resource depletion, contributing to climate change, and perpetuating environmental injustices.

Additionally, we are disgusted with the fast-tracked approval process and the woeful community consultation process. Wollert is a low- to medium-socioeconomic region in Melbourne's outer north. It is a fringe location home to a significant population from migrant and emerging communities, many of whom are new to Australia or face language barriers. If this facility goes ahead, it will only further disadvantage our community.

It is unjust and opportunistic to select this geographic location of a vulnerable community for the installation of waste incinerators and fast-track approval processes. The local community has little to no understanding of what’s being installed in their backyards and the potential detrimental health impacts to their families. Information needs to be conveyed clearly and simply. Current community consultations are performative at best. 

Why is the government not spending its millions advertising this project like the East-West tunnel or the West-Gate tunnel project? What about the billions they spent on advertising during Covid? Why is this project not plastered on our billboards, on TV, and on social media the way they have other key projects?

There are valid concerns regarding the local environment, particularly regarding its potential impact on local flora and fauna, food chains, and farming. Despite the ample documented evidence highlighting these environmental impacts, the Victorian Minister for Planning signed off in October last year, asserting that no environmental impact statement is necessary. See the decision here This decision raises questions about the Minister's consideration of the abundance of evidence available for operations, particularly those overseas.

 

Call to Action:

We demand that no permits be approved for the Cleanaway incinerator in Wollert and the incinerator not be installed in Wollert, in the backyard of young families. The potential long-term health impacts of having this incinerator in such close proximity to families in Wollert remain unknown.

We call upon all Australians to oppose the installation of the CLEANAWAY waste incinerator in Wollert. Protect our families and future generations from the potential harmful health consequences of this unjust and environmentally damaging project.

If we gather enough signatures from this petition, the EPA will be unable to proceed with this application due to the lack of social licence.

 

Sign and share this petition to help stop this project! 

Protect our Children! Protect our families! Protect our Environment!

#StopBurningStuff  #Thinkofthechildren  #Wollert

For Further information: 

• See the No Northern Incinerator Facebook page
• ConferenceOfInterestedPersonsReportJune2024
• PublicHealthAssociationStatementonIncineration
• ConsultationOnWasteToEnergyWollert
• CleanAway Operations
• Environmental Justice Laverton Cleanaway Plant
• Youtube-How waste affects Poor neighbourhoods
• ZeroWasteAustralia
• ToxicsFreeAustraliaReports
• NoMoreIncinerators
• BurningInjusticeYouTube
• LoveWollertYoutube
• HiddenEmissionsEurope
• ForeverChemicals
• StudyIncineratorHealthImpacts
• AirPollutionDisadvantagesTheDisadvantagedHarder
• ImpactsIncineratorsOnHumanHealth
• SunburyIncineratorFacebookPage