Society calls on Holcim to come clean on climate change impact

Today Rodney Jones the spokesman of the Waiareka Valley Preservation Society called on Holcim to come clean on the significant climate change impacts associated with the proposed Holcim cement plant at Weston, just outside of Oamaru.

Mr Jones commented:

“Carbon dioxide emissions from the proposed Holcim cement plant at Weston will be 800kg per tonne of cement. This means that the Weston plant will be generating around 800,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum. This will represent a significant increase in New Zealand’s emissions of greenhouse gases.

It is time Holcim (New Zealand) stopped the pretence of being a New Zealand company. Only this week Holcim’s Managing Director Mr Rex Williams claimed that Holcim (New Zealand) established its roots in New Zealand as far back as 1888. The reality is that Holcim acquired Milburn Cement in 1992, and that since then Holcim (New Zealand) has been a 100% subsidiary of a Swiss multinational. Holcim is as much a part of New Zealand’s landscape as Swiss cheese.

Holcim’s proposed plant at Weston is a climate change refugee from Europe. Holcim’s document this week “Creating a Good Atmosphere” pointed out that the new CO2 emitting plants in Europe incur onerous emissions taxes. The Weston plant is an attempt to evade these CO2 charges.

With the recent capacity expansion by Golden Bay Cement in Whangarei – a 100% New Zealand owned company – New Zealand now has a significant surplus in cement. New Zealand is already a net-exporter of cement. New Zealand’s cement surplus should last another 15-20 years, before additional capacity is required.

It is inevitable that the cement produced by the Weston will be exported into Holcim’s global supply chain. And that the profits will be exported as dividends. All that will remain in New Zealand will be 100 jobs, the environmental degradation of one of Otago’s pristine historical valleys, and our national greenhouse emission obligations under Kyoto. This project does not make sense for New Zealand.

The Waiareka Valley Preservation Society is a group of ordinary New Zealanders, from all walks of life, who have chosen to make the Waiareka Valley, Weston and the surrounding area our home. Yet we are being forced to defend our and our children’s way of life against a Swiss multi-national who wants to turn our rural home into an industrial corridor, all the while emitting substantial amounts of CO2.

In his press release this week, Mr Williams quoted from Yeats. As Mr Williams and Holcim prepares to turn significant parts of the Waiareka Valley into a wasteland, perhaps quoting from T.S Eliot would have been more appropriate.”

ENDS

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