Monash Council has contracted Recovered Energy Laverton (REL) and Solo Energy (Solo) to divert waste into electricity through a purpose-built WtE facility to be constructed at Laverton, Victoria.
The facility will be operational by the 2025/26 financial year and capable of processing approximately 240,000 tonnes of waste each year. Enough to service several councils.
Importantly, incineration is not part of the process. This proven technology does not burn waste but operates at high temperatures in a low air environment to convert it into a gas, similar to natural gas, which is used to produce high-pressure steam and electricity. This technology has met stringent guidelines and has Environment Protection Authority Victoria approval.
Mayor Tina Samardzija said this is a huge step for Monash’s journey to reduce community emissions, with waste that would end up in landfill diverted and processed to be used for energy.
“This is an exciting development for Monash’s goal to reduce what we send to landfill.. Diverting more than 45,000 tonnes of waste from landfill each year will reduce emissions to the equivalent of planting close to one million trees,” said Samardzija.
The technologies required to make this solution possible are being provided by REL who, together with Solo, have close to 95 years of waste and resource recovery experience.
“REL and Solo commend Monash Council for its initiative,” said REL Director, Ian Guss. “It should be recognised for its leadership in the increasingly urgent need to divert waste from landfill, recovering resources and moving towards a circular economy, being amongst the first councils to confirm its move from landfilling waste to utilising alternate waste to energy technologies.
“This initiative directly addresses community expectations that we must take responsibility for our environmental impacts and stop leaving our environmental problems to be dealt with by future generations. Innovative solutions like this are a critical step to ensuring our future.”
“Waste to energy facilities, such as the REL Facility in Laverton North, will be a critical part of the infrastructure essential to realising a circular economy and improving the environmental and economic outcomes for waste that would otherwise be landfilled.”
The plant is being built at Laverton in Melbourne’s western suburbs and will be operational by 2025/ 2026.
It will have the capacity to deal with some 240,000 tonnes of waste per annum, delivering enough energy to power over 30,000 homes and remove over 269,000 tonnes of CO2 per year from the environment. This is the equivalent of taking over 100,000 cars off Melbourne roads.
The plant will create more than 400 jobs during construction and provide 40 ongoing jobs through its operations.
Gasification is different to incineration – the technology does not burn waste but operates at extremely high temperatures in a low air environment that converts waste into a gas, similar to natural gas, that is then used to produce high pressure steam and electricity. This technology has met stringent guidelines and has Environment Protection Authority Victoria approval.