95bFM The proposal to send New Zealand's waste to Fiji
8 May, 2026
Interview by Caeden Tipler, adapted by Chloe Porter
An Australian company, TNG Limited, has proposed building a large waste incinerator in the Saweni beachside area of Fiji. The application specifically cites New Zealand as a source of waste for the incinerator, which would burn 900,000 tonnes of waste per year. This is more than four times the amount of waste that Fiji itself produces.
Sue Coutts, Director of External Affairs at Zero Waste Aotearoa, spoke to 95bFM’s The Wire to unpack concerns raised by environmental groups, local communities, and political leaders in the Pacific regarding the proposed incinerator.
Zero Waste Aotearoa strongly opposes the plan, which Coutts says is deeply problematic, specifically in shifting the burden of our waste onto another nation. “We don't think New Zealanders should be sending our rubbish across to Fiji to make it their problem”
Coutts notes that incinerators “produce significant amounts of toxic ash” and that introducing one in Fiji is not a sustainable form of economic development for the country. Resistance in the community is immense, from rugby clubs to local community groups; many Fijians have spoken out against the development of an incinerator.
Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka acknowledged this public concern and stated that he does not support the project moving forward. The country is saying, “We don't want to be an ashtray for Australia and New Zealand,” and they are urging the preservation and development of the island's natural beauty for tourism as a long-term economic solution.
This proposal has started broader conversations about global waste practices. Coutts points to the production of everyday material items, which are often manufactured overseas in “factories that create pollution and environmental damage.” These products are occasionally used only briefly before being thrown away.
Coutts critiques our ignorance of where our material items come from, and believes that exporting our waste is a pattern in which high-consumption countries offload environmental harm onto less powerful countries.
“There isn’t some magical ‘away’ place we can send all the stuff. We have to start thinking about how we reduce our consumption and take responsibility.”
There is a long-term pattern that Coutts addresses of larger nations offloading harmful practices on countries with weaker regulations. She references nuclear testing in the Pacific during the 1970s, where larger countries “polluted some other country and not their own,” leaving long-term damage. She argues this approach is reflected in the current incinerator proposals.
New Zealand has a responsibility to our Pacific neighbours to “help them to fight for clean solutions.” Rather than spend a billion dollars on an incinerator, that level of investment could “set Fiji up with really great renewable energy sources,” creating a more sustainable long-term future.
