february 2026 update

It’s been a busy month in the Keep the Scenic Rim Scenic campaign to stop the proposed Cleanaway waste incinerator development at Bromelton.

NEWSFLASH! We now have NO INCINERATOR bumper stickers available!

In Boonah you can drop in to Far Outdoors or Scenic Wandering Foods to pick up one (or three or more) for your family and business vehicles or anywhere prominent. A gold coin donation is appreciated to cover printing costs.

Venues where they will be available in Beaudesert and other places in the region will be notified shortly. Keep an eye on our No Incinerator for Scenic Rim! and Keep the Scenic Rim Scenic FB pages for locations or contact us for your nearest campaign team member carrying stock.

Public Engagement
The forum held at Boonah on 22 February attracted 108 interested and concerned residents from right across the Scenic Rim. Thank you to everyone who came.

Jane Bremmer from the National Toxics Network was the keynote speaker presenting online live from Western Australia. She covered many areas of scientific fact about the best practice state-of-the-art waste incinerators in other parts of the world and Western Australia and their failures, including health impacts, impacts on farming, agriculture, environmental damage, and company and council financial losses.

Jane has kindly given us permission to add her presentation to our information links for our community to access freely. It will be available online soon to watch, as well as access to a growing library of information we have gathered for the Scenic Rim community to study.

Other speakers covered concerns about traffic, health, potential impacts on farming and agri-tourism. Plus, information on the potential impacts on existing jobs, alternatives to burning waste, and renewable energy and implementation of zero waste and circular economy practices as practical alternatives.

An informative Q&A session gave attendees an opportunity to voice their own concerns and produced some excellent ideas and suggestions from the floor for the No Incinerator for Scenic Rim campaign.

The following day another presentation was also well received by members and friends of the Beaudesert branch of QCWA. Concerns about the proposal from the ratepayer’s point of view were raised by those present. The small number of long-term jobs arising from the proposal vs potential impacts on existing and future jobs in the region from our agriculture and tourism, were of particular concern.

Those present discussed and agreed to contact their local councillors, the mayor, plus state and federal members, to register their concerns and question the position of their representatives on the matter.

There was a strong feeling in the room that this was a topic that could decide their voting decisions in two years when local government elections are next held. Please consider writing emails and letters or making phone calls to let our elected officials hear the voice of our community!

Here are their contact details:

Mayor Tom Sharp mayor@scenicrim.qld.gov.au 0408 300 634
Div 1 Councillor Amanda Hay amanda.h@scenicrim.qld.gov.au 0448 376 650
Division 2 Councillor Kerri Cryer kerri.c@scenicrim.qld.gov.au 0459 791 114
Division 3 Councillor Stephen Moriarty stephen.mo@scenicrim.qld.gov.au 0475 418 034
Division 4 Councillor Jennifer Sanders jennifer.sa@scenicrim.qld.gov.au 0459 528 213
Division 5 Councillor marshall Chalk marshall.c@scenicrim.qld.gov.au 0429 506 328
Division 6 Councillor Duncan McInnes duncan.m@scenicrim.qld.gov.au 0429 689 192
State MP Jon Krause scenicrim@parliament.qld.gov.au 5515 1100
Federal MP Scott Buchholz scott.buchholz.mp@aph.gov.au 5541 0150

Upcoming Events:
On Wednesday we are presenting at council’s strategy workshop with councillors and directors. We have 45 minutes to present information about another side of the Cleanaway waste incinerator proposal to that promoted by the company presentations and website. We will focus on information relating to emissions, toxins, health, farming and regional tourism threats, and to express some of the concerns and questions raised with us by our Scenic Rim community.

Our next public event will be attending the Beaudesert markets on Saturday 7 March. We’ll be there from 7am to 12 noon, and we’d love to have some of you join us.

We also plan to be at future markets around the region, so if you are interested in coming along to help when we’re in your home patch, please get in touch. Even if you are able to come for an hour or so that would be great! You can contact us by email: contact-no-incinerator-for-scenic-rim@googlegroups.com or by FB message.

We will have fact sheets available as well as other information displays. Bumper stickers and button badges will also be available for a gold coin donation. Tee shirts are in the pipeline.

We are also planning a public information forum on Tamborine Mountain in the near future, and due to public demand will also hold a follow up forum to the one we held last year at Beaudesert as soon as possible. Venues to be confirmed.

If you would like to contribute a little more to the success of the campaign, you may be interested in joining the team. Please get in touch if you do.

No Incinerator for Scenic Rim petition update:
Thank you to everyone who has signed the petition and donated to support the cause.

At the time of writing our online petition on change.org has 1,164 signatures and the paper version is also gathering petitioners. Add your name and share through your networks here: Petition · No Incinerator for the Scenic Rim - Australia · Change.org

NB. Correction to vehicle movement numbers given previously:
The number of vehicles described online to and from the proposed waste incinerator site at the proposed Bromelton Energy and Resource Centre (BERC) by Cleanaway, was written to read : Approximately 472 vehicles including trucks and staff vehicles will come and go through the facility each day, which was not entirely clear as to whether it was 472 vehicles in and 472 vehicles out, resulting in a total of over 800 vehicle movements a day, OR, a total of 472 vehicle movements including both in and out movements.

We have written to Cleanaway for clarification, but not yet received a response. However, the number has now been clarified on their website to read Around 472 vehicle trips per day are expected in both directions with 236 vehicles arriving and 236 leaving.

As you may know, Soilco will be operating a large composting facility right next door to the Cleanaway site. They will also have a large number of trucks traveling on our roads. Their expected number of daily truck vehicle movements is between 80 and 120 arriving and between 80 and 120 leaving.

So together, the expected number of large truck vehicles will easily reach 300 traveling to the side by side sites, and 300 traveling away from the sites on a daily basis, equating to 600 daily large vehicle movements.

It may not be 800 vehicle movements, but 600 is still a substantial number of extra truck movements on our roads on a daily basis.

Our literature will be corrected to reflect this clarification of daily vehicle movements.

What’s next and what can you do to spread the word?

Our next update will include dates and venues for the next forums and markets.

Please share information through your networks at work, with family and friends. Knowledge is power, and we will continue to add up to the date information from across the globe as it becomes available.

It’s become increasingly clear as we talk to people all over the shire that the majority in our community are not aware of this proposed plastic-burning waste incinerator coming into our region, and the plan to burn 760,000 tonnes of waste per annum 7 days a week, 365 days a year, right on the doorstep of Beaudesert.

To make matters worse, Scenic Rim generates less than 30,000 tonnes of waste each year, and that’s under 4% of the total volume this facility is proposing to incinerate annually.

In reality, Cleanaway is asking our community, along with our established agricultural and tourism industries, to shoulder the risks, while importing and incinerating waste from other regions here in the Scenic Rim. The profits would flow to the company and its shareholders, while the impacts would be borne locally.

On top of that, Cleanaway has a questionable track record in managing traditional waste landfill systems already, having been fined on numerous occasions. The precedent setting fine relating to their Ipswich facility was for over $600,000, the highest penalty ever handed down by Queensland's environmental regulator for an environmental odour nuisance offence. As well as this, Cleanaway also committed other offences, including unlawfully pumping contaminated water around the site and unlawfully using that water for dust suppression. ABC Ipswich waste operator issued precedent-setting fine for odour nuisance after seven 2022 offences

The NSW EPA are currently investigating Cleanaway’s operations in Sydney for similar reasons.

We are collating information to share on Cleanaway’s poor compliance record, and will have that information available soon.

It is important to acknowledge that Cleanaway has no experience operating waste incinerators in Australia. The company’s corporate behaviour has been reported in the Australian Financial Review, where the NSW EPA slammed the company over the management of its operations and environmental safety claims.

Do we want to risk Cleanaway trying out this brand new and untested technology in Queensland, on our community here in the clean and green Scenic Rim?

Say NO to an Incinerator for the Scenic Rim!

Let’s Keep the Scenic Rim Scenic….. and healthy…… and clean and green!

For further information please refer to our Linktree, or contact the Keep the Scenic Rim Scenic No Incinerator for Scenic Rim campaign by email: contact-no-incinerator-for-scenic-rim@googlegroups.com



Thank you from the
Keep the Scenic Rim Scenic
No Incinerator for Scenic Rim Campaign Team

contact-keep-the-scenic-rim-scenic@googlegroups.com
No Incinerator for Scenic Rim! Facebook Group
Keep the Scenic Rim Scenic Facebook Group
No Incinerator for Scenic Rim! Linktree