Plans for a waste-to-energy incinerator in western Sydney will not proceed, after an independent panel rejected the scheme on Thursday.

Citing “uncertainty” over the project’s human health risks, and impact on air and water quality, the three-member Independent Planning Commission said the project was not in the public interest and refused consent.

“The Commission finds that it is unable to determine the project’s impacts on human health, which persuades the Commission to adopt a precautionary approach,” the report by Robyn Kruk, Peter Duncan and Tony Pearson said.

The formal refusal of the Eastern Creek incinerator, proposed by Dial-A-Dump Industries’ Next Generation Pty Ltd, follows the recommendation by the Department of Planning and Environment that it not proceed.

The project had been hugely controversial, gathering more than 950 public objections. The energy-from-waste facility was to have operated 24/7, and provided enough energy to supply up to 100,000 homes.