Traditionally defined by pipes and treatment plants, Yarra Valley Water had repositioned itself as a major player in renewable energy through its new waste-to-energy facility in Lilydale, 34 kilometres from Melbourne’s central business district.
The site demonstrated how the water sector could meet its own energy needs while addressing a logistical challenge for commercial food waste. Rather than concentrating on residential food organics and garden organics collections, the utility focused on high-purity commercial and industrial streams to minimise contamination and maximise energy and organic outputs.
Once operational, the facility is expected to power itself and the neighbouring sewage treatment plant, with surplus renewable electricity fed back into the grid. Designed to process about 55,000 tonnes of food waste annually, it will generate 39,000 kilowatt hours of renewable electricity each day, meeting around 35 per cent of Yarra Valley Water’s total electricity needs.
The environmental benefits are substantial, with projected emissions reductions of up to 24,700 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent each year. While the plant formed part of Victoria’s strategy to halve organic waste sent to landfill by 2030, Stephanie Salinas, manager, Waste to Energy Services at Yarra Valley Water, said it also provided a model for reducing risk in the transition to renewables.
“By treating food waste as a resource rather than a problem, we are not only reducing landfill and emissions but creating a self-sustaining energy loop that benefits both our customers and the environment,” she said.
The Lilydale facility has been built on the success of the utility’s Wollert plant, launched in 2017 as Victoria’s first commercial-scale food bioenergy facility. The project was managed by Delorean Corporation under a design, build, operate and maintenance contract. Salinas said Yarra Valley Water had sought a partner with proven local experience, leading to the selection of the Tiger HS20 depackaging unit supplied by FOCUS enviro. She said the system addressed one of the biggest challenges in commercial food recycling: packaging.
“We designed the Lilydale plant to have the addition of packaged food organics as a direct response from what we were hearing from our customer base at Wollert; that there was a need for an increased processing capacity for packaged food,” Salinas said.
“Delorean has a wealth of experience with processing packaged food waste for anaerobic digestion systems already here in Australia, and they have had success with the Tiger unit at another facility.
“Delorean also knew that we wanted a unit that could tackle a broad range of packaged food such as plastics, cardboard, aluminium or blended packaging where you have multiple layers. For us, it really made sense to go with something that was proven.”
Ryan McParland, product specialist at FOCUS enviro, said the Tiger HS20 combined shredding, screening and extrusion in a single process, producing a 99.6 per cent contamination-free organic output. He said the system also offered operational flexibility, low energy use and a compact footprint.
“FOCUS enviro is committed to delivering best-in-class solutions that don’t just process waste, but recover value with maximum efficiency,” McParland said.
“By providing the Tiger HS20, we are playing an important role in Yarra Valley Water’s journey toward net zero, supporting a project that aligns with our core value to introduce smarter, sustainable recovery systems to the Australian market.
“Being part of a facility that sets such a high standard for quality and renewable output reinforces FOCUS enviro’s position as a trusted partner in the national transition toward a truly circular economy.”
The Lilydale plant was in the commissioning phase, a process Salinas described as gradual and biologically driven.
“It’s not like your typical plant where you switch it on and everything starts to happen,” Salinas said. “We have to build up the gut of the system itself.
“That’s what we’re doing at the moment. We’re receiving waste, we’re processing it, and we’re building up that biological stock that we need to produce the biogas. In the biological commissioning stage, you’re using that process to get your biogas to a quality and a volume that you need to switch on your generators.”
Beyond energy generation, the facility is designed to close the nutrient loop through a dedicated digestate system producing liquid and solid products for agriculture. Salinas said trials were underway to demonstrate performance and support entry into the organics market.
“We’re undertaking a range of trials and producing data that demonstrates quality and performance, and as we begin to produce at Lilydale, we’ll be moving into commercial scale demonstration trials with some key partners to lead that gateway into the organics market,” Salinas said.
She added that the local community had embraced the project and that it was central to the utility’s emissions targets, with Yarra Valley Water on track to report net zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions this financial year.
“It’s inspiring to see Yarra Valley Water do something like this,” Salinas said. “I’ve been able to see how this has influenced and encouraged industry to pursue the innovation into bio energy.
“As much as it can be challenging, it is a testament that we can get innovation across the line, and we can make these things stick.”