FEATURED TOPIC – ENERGY FROM WASTE The significance of the first EfW facilities to be approved in Australia should not be underestimated.
EfW in NSW – Where are we now? ESTHER HUGHES, PRINCIPAL ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNER, MRA CONSULTING GROUP, TAKES A LOOK AT THE STATE OF ENERGY FROM WASTE.
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n article on the MRA blog dated July 2014 is a summary of the Energy from Waste (EfW) Symposium held the same year in Lorne, Victoria, which featured a panel representing all the states and territories except Northern Territory and the ACT. The conversation is familiar to this decade – landfill avoidance, thermal efficiencies, waste hierarchy, cannibalising recycling, bringing the community along, the effect of the landfill levy, and Energy from Waste policies. So, what has changed? Well, lots and not much. On the policy front, there are five major states and territories that have published standalone EfW policies, placing conditions around many of the main issues that were discussed eight years ago. The ACT has declared that it is a no-go zone for thermal EfW
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facilities. Victoria has placed a cap on EfW throughput. On the ground, and the first in Australia employing modern technology, two large-scale thermal EfW facilities have been approved in Western Australia, followed by five in Victoria. The significance of these facilities to spearhead the modern alternative to landfills should not be underestimated. An Australian-based facility provides relevant data for other potential development and may help to alleviate fears about the EfW industry. Hopefully, our next holiday to WA will include a tour of Kwinana. One might wonder what New South Wales, the most populous state with the highest waste levy, has achieved in the way of progress toward its first energy from waste facility. In September 2021, the NSW government issued the Energy from Waste Infrastructure Plan 2021, in
which it identifies three principles that would guide future energy from waste infrastructure investment. They are: to improve certainty to communities and industry around acceptable locations and facilities; to commit to caution where there are areas of high population and exceedances to air quality standards, and to maximise efficiencies in infrastructure, waste management, innovation and energy recovery. The Plan is focused on strategic planning that provides for economic and job opportunities in regional areas. Synergies with existing or planned infrastructure, including rail or road transport, are encouraged. Following on from the Infrastructure Plan, on 8 July 2022 the NSW Protection of the Environment Operations (General) Amendment (Thermal Energy from Waste) Regulation 2022 came into effect. It’s