Waste incineration to get rid of waste and generate energy does not align with tikanga Māori (principles), and is seen by Para Kore as a false solution to solving our waste crisis.
Incinerating waste has perpetual negative impacts on the environment and creates pollutants such as greenhouse gasses and toxic ash. Investing in long-term incineration contracts is harmful to our natural world, instead we must ensure investment is redirected regionally to local people to build a Tiriti led, zero waste, zero carbon future.
Our current waste comes from the linear, extractive economy, which is based on profits, not interconnectedness and reciprocity. Incinerating waste sustains this problematic cycle. The linear economy takes natural resources from our atua whānau. It consequently makes stuff, distributes stuff (sometimes globally), uses stuff and then throws it away. Incinerating waste is like creating a landfill in the sky. It continues to cause harm to the environment and not address the systemic issues at the core of our waste problem.
Within te ao Māori, the relationships between land and humans are intimate. The Earth is our mother and the sky is our father. We are related to mountains, to rocks, to insects, to birds, to the rivers and bush, to all parts of the natural world. They are our ancestors, our relations. We are the teina, the youngest sibling, and part of the family of nature. We identify with landforms and the place.
Custodianship is passed down through generations, and the relationship is reciprocal: you look after the land; the land looks after you. Reciprocity is a highly regarded value within te ao Māori.
We need to draw on values of manaakitanga and manaakitanga to look after Ranginui and Papatūānuku and all the other species we are related to. The human species needs to get with the programme by living in a way that is compatible with nature where rubbish is not part of the design. The mokopuna of tomorrow are relying on us to do the right thing and demand climate justice. Our mokopuna are our responsibility. Say no to incineration of waste.