Ian Guss and Craig Eyes are directors of Recovered Energy Australia. They are in the final planning stage which, if approved, will see the establishment of a waste gasification plant in Laverton North. The plant will convert residual household waste into electricity. Even though this form of waste treatment is not yet available in Australia, it has been in operation in other countries such as China and Sweden for more than 20 years.
Some of the key points to come out of Ian's presentation include:
- Approximately 21.7 million tonnes of waste go to landfill in Australia each year. 4.25 million tonnes are dumped in Victoria. This is expected to rise to 6.4 million tonnes by 2035.
- In the past 20 years, waste generation has grown 4.5 times faster than our population growth in the same time.
- During the planning stage, the project has gone through a stringent set of criteria to ensure that they can obtain approval. Some of the boxes that are already ticked include technology, finance, site location, policy, legislation, community, markets, reputation and employment.
- The objective is to initially process 200,000 tonnes of waste per annum. The capacity is designed for 3-4 Local Government councils which equates to about a 97% diversion from landfill.
- The proposed construction completion ties in with the expiry of the existing council contract in 2021.
- The plant will generate 16 megawatts of electrical energy which will provide power for 35,000 homes for 12 months.
- Some of the advantages of the technology include:
- Extremely low emissions.
- No nuisance odours.
- No pests.
- Maximises energy recovered from residual waste.
- It contributes to the Victorian greenhouse gas reductions target.
- The plant will be built in the industrial area of Laverton North. The nearest residential area will be 1.7 kilometres away.
- The plant will cost $100 million. Most of this will be funded by companies that have invested in wind farms in Victoria.
Ian says that, while it is taking a long time to get the project off the ground which is mainly due to the strict bureaucratic process they have to go through, they already have plans to build similar plants in the north and east of Melbourne. This would eliminate the need for waste trucks from the other side of Melbourne to travel across the Westgate Bridge to dispose their rubbish at the Wyndham tip.
Click on the image below to view a video of how the gasification plant works.
