‘The Rings of Power’, as happened with Peter Jackson’s trilogy, chose New Zealand for its filming in the first season. However, the ecological impact has been disastrous.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premiered in early September on Prime Video to great acclaim. The story, set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, introduces us to a huge cast of characters. The first season, whose huge budget has been more than evident, was filmed in New Zealand, the home of the J.R.R Tolkien universe since Peter Jackson decided to shoot his two trilogies in his native country. While the second season is being prepared in the United Kingdom, newspapers such as The Guardian reveal the concern of the authorities, the team involved and the inhabitants of New Zealand due to the terrible environmental impact of the filming of the Amazon show.
New Zealand has tax incentives for filming but authorities complain about the environmental impact of the industry and Rings of Power
New Zealand, after the boom of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings, became the ideal home to shoot large productions in dreamy natural settings. In fact, since 2010, the year in which the law popularly known as the ‘Hobbit Law’ was enacted, a large part of the Hollywood production workers who stay there have become independent contractors. But this has generated a good problem at an environmental level, with thousands of people inferring on the landscapes and preserved areas. Amazon Studios executed with The Rings of Power a huge production in the antipodes, with gigantic plastic floors, Styrofoam trees and colossal sets that generated a lot of waste.
Once the scenes were filmed, all these have been crushed and moved to the landfill, generating tons of garbage and the concern for the elimination of this waste and the impact in terms of pollution that the series has been able to produce in its wake. Part of the Rings of Power team has complained about the production management and its waste policies, contacting British media to explain the situation. In fact, they have done so anonymously for fear of reprisals, since the protection provided by the Hobbit Law is very little.
“I am speaking because I like the cinema. I like working in the cinema, I want to continue in the industry, but not in the way it is developing now. It is appalling what is happening and most people do not know it” , confessed one of those involved in The Rings of Power. “If large corporations come to this country and take advantage of the beauty that exists here, there is a duty to preserve that beauty. It is not normal for taxes to be reduced and we keep all their garbage,” this professional remarked. Amazon’s rollout of Rings of Power is said to have amounted, in terms of waste and carbon footprint, to the equivalent of four or five major movies.
Production has generated more than 14,387 tons of carbon dioxide and today it is almost impossible to calculate the amount of waste sent to landfills scattered throughout the country. These waste management providers take care of removing the waste and recycling it, although it is not entirely clear what is done with the material left over from the sets. “In The Rings of Power, these huge walls of ice and rock walls break into a thousand pieces. If someone sat in front of one of these great productions and saw the number of containers that come out every day, they would be scared,” remarked another of the sources. “We’re talking about trucks and trucks and trucks of Styrofoam and wood and everything else, mixed with plastic … and basically thrown into a hole in the ground,” he continues.
Amazon takes the ecological impact very seriously and affirms that it complies with the measures although it can do more
In The Guardian article, it states that Amazon, for its part, has worked to reduce the environmental impact of its productions and that environmental measures have been taken during filming. For example, charging stations have been made for electric vehicles, menus with vegetarian and local food have been designed for the members of the filming and recycling has been advocated. It is expected that more forceful measures will be signed for future filming, and from Amazon they affirm that they take this issue very seriously. “Sustainability met or exceeded industry standards,” they explain officially. Of course, they do not reveal details of the ecological footprint or how they will improve in this field in the future. It is a pity that, having promised fidelity to the spirit of Tolkien, there is talk of the environmental mismanagement of a series based on the work of a writer who always showed great passion, love and respect for nature.