2. THE CHALLENGE
As Sydney has grown, so too has the amount of waste it
produces. In fact, as a country it has been estimated that
Australia is the second highest producer of municipal solid
waste per capita in the world.
Five Northern Sydney Councils and eight councils that
form part of the Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of
Councils engaged Veolia to help divert waste from landfill
through sustainable waste management practices and
resource recovery solutions.
3. THE SOLUTION
EarthPower
Earthpower Technologies
(Earthpower) is Australia’s first
regional food waste–to–energy
facility located in Camellia,NSW.
Earthpower accepts solid and liquid
food waste streams from the industrial,
commercial and residential sectors
and converts it to green energy and
nutrient-richfertiliser.
4. THE SOLUTION
Woodlawn Bioenergy Facility
TheWoodlawn site is located 250km
south of Sydney, near Goulburn in New
South Wales. Previously a copper, lead
and zinc open-cut mine, the void is now
used as one of the largest, and certainly
one of the deepest, purpose-built
bioreactor landfill projects in the world.
Themethane created from decomposing
putrescible waste is used as fuel for
specially created turbines to create
electricity.
TheWoodlawn Bioreactor currently
accepts around 20% of Sydney’s
putrescible waste and is recognised
as an example of best practice landfill
technology.
5. HOW WE DO IT
Earth Power
EarthPower accepts food waste and organic liquid waste and
converts it to renewable energy from digester gas that is
recovered and used to fuel cogeneration engines.
A by-product of the anaerobic digestion process is a nutrient rich
sludge, which is dried and granulated for sale as a fertiliser into
the agriculture and horticultural markets.
7. • Capacity to receive up to 45,000 tonnes of food waste p.a.
• Reduced greenhouse gas emissions through anaerobic
digestion
• Renewable energy supply to over 3,600households
• Support sustainability goals for large food retailers
THE OUTCOME
8. HOW WE DO IT
Woodlawn Bioenergy Facility
TheWoodlawn site is comprised of several keysustainable and innovative elements
including:
• Bioreactor - facilities recover energy from what would otherwise be waste material
to produce greenelectricity
• Agriculture - incorporating a working farm that applies nutrient and grazing
rotation to improve meat and wool productivity while reducing impacts on the soil
• Aquaculture and horticulture - utilising the waste heat produced from the energy
generation process for fish farming, incorporating hydroponics in the filtrations
system to remove excess nutrients
• Thedevelopment of a Mechanical and Biological Treatment (MBT) facility designed
to extract the organic content from the mixed waste stream to produce compost for
onsite minerehabilitation
10. • Reduces the state’s environmental footprint by
processing 20% of Sydney’s putrescible waste
and diverting 45% of the waste received from
landfill
• 4.1 Mt of waste used to generate greenelectricity
• Exports enough power to supply over 6,000
households
• Mulwaree Trust provides funding for
charitable purposes and worthwhile
community projectsto benefit local
communities
THE OUTCOME
11. Tofind out how Veolia’s world of plug-
ins can help your business visit:
veolia.com.au/integratedbydesign
