Lilydale Food Waste to Energy Project Update 2021

LILYDALE FOOD WASTE TO ENERGY PROJECT 1.

Let’s start at the beginning…

2.

What is food waste to energy?

3.

What food waste is accepted?

4.

Benefits of food waste to energy

5.

Our food waste to energy success in Wollert

6.

What we’re planning in Lilydale

7.

Engaging the local community

8.

What’s in it for the local community?

9.

Your suggestions

10. Some proposed benefits 11. What do you think?

12. Being a good neighbour 13. What’s next?

1. Let’s start at the beginning…

We’re Yarra Valley Water

Why food waste to energy?

• We provide water and sanitation services to around 2 million people and more than 50,000 businesses across a 4,000-square-kilometre area, from Wallan in the north to Warburton in the east.

We have set ourselves an ambitious target of producing 100 per cent of our own energy needs through renewable sources by 2025 – generating as much energy as we consume.

• Our purpose is to support the health and wellbeing of our customers, and create a brighter future for communities and the natural environment.

Our food waste to energy facility in Wollert, in Melbourne’s north, produces around 20 per cent of Yarra Valley Water’s total energy needs.

The facility in Lilydale is expected to produce a further 30 per cent to fulfil our energy needs.

In addition to transforming food waste into energy, we’ve been generating our own energy through solar arrays installed across multiple sewage treatment plant sites, and our offices in Mitcham, as well as coinvesting with other water utilities in one of Victoria’s largest solar farms in the State’s north west.

We’ve been neighbours for a long time We’ve been operating water and sewer infrastructure in Lilydale for decades.

Our sewage treatment plant in Nelson Road sits at the southern end of a large 57-hectare block of land. It has operated there for over 50 years, collecting and treating sewage from Lilydale, Coldstream and Yarra Glen. The plant also produces Class B recycled water, which can be used for irrigating pasture and sporting fields and watering some types of crops.

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In late 2019, we purchased 176 hectares of land at 535-537 Maroondah RUNNING EVENT Highway, Coldstream, to use for future expansion of services focused aroundMURAL recycled water. The food waste to energy facility isn’t being built on this new land, but we are FUTURE BIKE PATH planning to use part of it as an access route.

It’s notBIRD unusual for usPLATFORM to own land around our WATCHING facilities. Besides using the land for operating our TREE PLANTINGtoAREA own infrastructure provide water and sanitation services to our customers, we sometimes need it to have a distance buffer from nearby properties, which helps with managing odours and noise.

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We sometimes KEY lease land to farmers and often this will include irrigating the land with recycled water to reduce our discharges Open Space of recycled water to local waterways. Commercial Residential Quarry Waste to Energy Facility Yarra Valley Water Land Proposed Access Route

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food waste

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2. What is food waste to energy?

Biogas cleaned

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Receiving the food waste

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Receiving the food waste

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Biogas Food cleaned waste

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2 Biogas fuels the generator We turn commercial food waste into renewable to make energy

Approved commercial suppliers deliver food Sewage waste to our facility in trucks, and it gets fed Treatment Plant into a sealed tank called a ‘digester’.

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Processing waste to make biogas

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Processing waste to make biogas

Biogas fuels theLike generator a human stomach, bacteria inside to the makedigester energy breaks down the food waste,

energy using a natural scientific process called ‘anaerobic digestion’, which is similar to the way a human body breaks down waste.

Sewage Power Treatment Grid Plant

generating a mixture of gases known as ‘biogas’. The main gas is methane which is the odourless gas that natural gas is mostly made up of. The biogas Power is then cleaned to remove Grid odours and impurities.

Burning the biogas Burning the biogas to make energy to make energy

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Biogas fuels the generator to make energy

Biogas cleaned

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Processing waste to make biogas

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Burning the biogas to make energy

The facility won’t be using a gasifier or incinerator to burn food waste. Instead, we burn the biogas in an engine, which generates electricity. This will be used to power our facility and the neighbouring Lilydale sewage treatment plant. Any excess energy is exported to the power grid.

COMMERCIAL FOOD WASTE COMMERCIAL FOOD WASTE from pre-approved suppliers. from pre-approved suppliers.

3. What food waste is accepted?

The facility will only accept commercial food waste, which may include fats and oils, meat, fruit and vegetables. We’ll only be dealing with commercial suppliers who have agreements with us.

We’ll accept:

ACCEPTABLE WASTE ACCEPTABLE WASTE

Dough and Dough and bakery waste bakery waste

BeverageBeverage waste waste

Meat

We encourage manufacturers in the Yarra Valley, including wineries, breweries and cheesemakers, to apply to provide food waste.

We can’t accept:

NON-ACCEPTABLE WASTE NON-ACCEPTABLE WASTE

Household Household food waste food waste

Hazardous Hazardous waste waste

Non- Nonorganic organic wastes wastes

Meat

Fats Fats and oils and oils

THINKING OF BRINGING YOUR COMMERCIAL FOOD WASTE TO US?

breweries, cheesemakers, breweries, cheesemakers, cafes and bakeries. cafes and bakeries.

Fruit andFruit and vegetables vegetables

Garden Garden waste/wood waste/wood Rubbish Rubbish waste waste

• Fruit, vegetables and flowers The facility’s • Garden waste, wood or any DAILY STAT YEARLY STAT The facility’s DAILY STAT YEARLY STAT digester operates from markets non-organic wastes like plastics digester operates 150 TONNES DIVERTS 150 TONNES DIVERTS metals ofor waste processed– our digester cannot of waste processed • Winery or brewery food waste 24/7 24/7 KILOWATTKILOWATTeasily break these down , HOURS 33 000 , HOURS 33 000 • Coffee grounds of energy produced TRUCKTRUCKDeliveries will of energy produced tonnes Deliveries will be accepted tonnes be accepted • Household waste, due to the risk deliveries deliveries enough to power around around • Grease trap waste from local of waste 6am to 4pm enough to power of waste 6am to 4pm regular regular of contamination (we will review per day MONDAY TOMONDAY from landfill per day from landfill houses 1800 TO SATURDAY houses 1800 SATURDAY cafes this opportunity in the future) • Egg/dough/bakery waste

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150 TONNES 150 TONNES of waste processed of waste processed

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4. Benefits of food waste to energy Every year, our facility in Lilydale will be: • Diverting about 50,000 tonnes of food waste from landfill • Reducing greenhouse gas emissions – equivalent to taking 18,000 family-sized cars off the road • Generating about 33,000 kilowatt-hours of clean, renewable energy each day • Meeting up to 30 per cent of Yarra Valley Water’s total energy needs – enough to power the facility itself as well as our neighbouring sewage treatment plant, and we’ll be exporting excess energy to the power grid • Saving money on our energy costs so we can keep pressure off our customers’ water bills.

Other environmental benefits

A bit more about the cost benefits

The facility in Lilydale will create clean, renewable energy by diverting thousands of tonnes of food waste away from landfill to be turned into something useful.

Like our food waste to energy facility in Wollert, the facility in Lilydale will be run as an efficient business, providing a commercial service that competes with other waste disposal options.

Landfills face great challenges in managing environmental issues including greenhouse gas emissions, vermin and runoff. Many of these issues are exacerbated by food waste, so the less going to landfill the better.

By using this food waste to generate lowemission renewable energy, we also reduce our reliance on fossil fuel sources. We aim to generate 100% of our own clean energy by 2025.

Over time, investment in food waste to energy pays for itself through a combination of gate fees, reduced electricity bills for our infrastructure and proceeds from the sale of excess electricity to the grid.

The facility will also allow us to make better use of the land around our treatment plant sites.

Over the long term, the financial benefits of food waste to energy will help keep pressure off our customers’ water bills.

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It will be one of the biggest food waste to energy facilities of its kind in Victoria. Unlike some other waste to energy plants, it will not use a gasifier or incinerator to burn waste.

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The new facility in Lilydale will operate in the same way, taking food waste from approved businesses and using it to create clean renewable energy. It will divert about 50,000 tonnes of food waste from landfill every year.

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• started operating in 2017 • diverts around 33,000 tonnes of food waste from landfill each year • creates enough power to meet over 20 per cent of our energy requirements • 30 truck deliveries a day

Bringing our success to Lilydale

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Wollert food waste to energy – a snapshot

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We already operate a successful food waste to energy facility at Wollert, in Melbourne’s north. This multi-awardwinning facility also sits next to a sewage treatment plant in Wollert and generates enough biogas to run both sites with excess energy being exported to the electricity grid.

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5. Our Food Waste to Energy success in Wollert

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6. What we’re planning in Lilydale Our sewage treatment plant in Nelson Road sits at the southern end of a 57-hectare block of land. It has operated there for over 50 years, collecting and treating sewage from Lilydale, Coldstream and Yarra Glen.

The food waste to energy facility will cover three hectares in size, and will be built at our sewage treatment plant, 750 metres from the nearest house.

Delivery trucks will access the facility along a new road to be built off Maroondah Highway, close to the Ingram Road intersection in Coldstream.

Features of our enclosed facility: • Tanks for holding and processing food waste • Large building to receive food waste • Engines (inside a building) that use the biogas to produce electricity • Weighbridge for trucks • Concrete areas for vehicle turning and parking • Access road to Maroondah Highway, Coldstream.

7. Engaging the local community In August 2020 we shared our plans to build the facility at our existing Lilydale sewage treatment plant. We asked people in the community to have their say about the look of the facility, as well as anything they thought we should be aware of as we progress the project.

What we’ve heard • The access road needs to be safe where it crosses the Yarra Rail Trail and when trucks are entering into Maroondah Highway

• Plant plenty of trees to screen the facility from view and be careful not to displace local kangaroos and other wildlife

• Make sure we control odour.

Some customers have at times noticed a smell from the Lilydale sewage treatment plant from the Yarra Rail Trail near Nelson Road and, in the past, have experienced odours from a privately operated composting facility that used to operate nearby

• There’s strong community support for recycling waste.

Your feedback is shaping our permit applications to the Planning Minister and the Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA).

These applications are to be submitted in late 2021, and you’ll have an opportunity to provide feedback.

8. What’s in it for the local community?

We’ll be reducing organic waste that currently ends up in landfill, substantially cutting greenhouse gas emissions and saving money on energy costs so we can keep pressure off our customers’ water bills.

However, there’s more to this project than turning food waste into energy.

Delivering additional benefits to the local community While the design of our facility progresses, the project is now at a stage where we want people in the local community to share their opinions about additional benefits and doing more for the place they live and work in.

In August 2021 we’re turning to the people of Lilydale and Coldstream to have their say about additional benefits Yarra Valley Water can deliver to the local community.

Reducing costs for local waste suppliers Yarra Valley wineries, breweries, orchards and dairies are all potential waste suppliers. As well as reducing trucking costs and tip fees, their organic waste will deliver environmental benefits.

If your organisation is interested in supplying food waste to the facility, contact our project team by email LilydaleWTE@yvw.com.au to find out more.

Or, visit us online at rewaste.com.au to submit your enquiry and see how much energy your food waste could generate.

9. Your suggestions We’ve already had some great suggestions, including upgrading bike trail connections to the Yarra Valley Trail, creating an educational space for people to visit, or enhancing the land around the facility.

We’ve listened to the suggestions you made during consultation back in August 2020, and, together with Yarra Ranges Council, we’ve been investigating those and some other options.

Some ideas are so good that we’re committing to doing them, such as: Planting lots of native trees and shrubs on our land around the facility to establish more wildlife habitat Making part of our land available to Yarra Ranges Council for the new bike path along Station Street connecting the Coldstream township to the Yarra Valley Trail

10. Some proposed benefits We’re proposing some more ideas for additional benefits and we want to know what you think about them: Providing an artistic educational mural wall along the Yarra Valley Trail • Enjoy a colourful mural painting done by local or Aboriginal artists • Take a break along the Trail to learn the story of how turning food waste into energy benefits the community and the environment

Installing electric bike charging stations in the Coldstream and Lilydale townships • Charge your electric bike for free while you’re shopping in town or having a bite to eat • Power your electric bike with energy generated from food waste

Launching a new running event along the Yarra Valley Trail • Attract new visitors to the area to participate in an active event on the Trail • Come up with a fun and exciting theme for your community event

Installing electric vehicle charging locations in the Coldstream and Lilydale townships • Charge your electric vehicle for free while you’re shopping in town or having a bite to eat • Power your electric vehicle with energy generated from food waste

Donating permanent binoculars for the bird watching platform along the Yarra Valley Trail • Get a closer look at the many bird species that are attracted to the nutrients in the ponds • Enjoy the bird watching facility recently installed

by Yarra Ranges Council

11. What do you think?

You might have your own ideas, and we’d love you to share them online.

What change can I influence?

We welcome all feedback and suggestions for additional benefits that can be delivered as part of the project. Our final decisions will also need to consider planning and environmental requirements and costs.

How can I have my say?

General Icons

1st colour preference

Your suggestion should connect with one or more of the project’s themes. The themes are:

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COMMUNITY – helping local people thrive

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2nd colour preference

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ENVIRONMENT – protecting and enhancing the health of the planet

CULTURAL HERITAGE – respecting history and the knowledge of the local community and Traditional Custodians of the land

We understand people may have views about how we could use the 176 hectares of land at 535-537 Maroondah Highway, Coldstream that we purchased in late 2019.

An engagement phase about the use of this land will occur in the future, separate to the Lilydale Food Waste to Energy Project.

General Icons

Share your opinions before 3 October by: Joining the conversation online at yvw.com.au/LilydaleWTE Emailing us at LilydaleWTE@yvw.com.au

12. Being a good neighbour When designing, building and operating the facility, we want to be a good neighbour. That’s why we’re making sure the facility won’t be smelly or noisy, and that delivery trucks won’t disrupt local traffic.

We have experience: • We know that the location of the facility is often still and quiet. Our Lilydale sewage treatment plant has been operating in the area for over 50 years.

• As operators of almost 10,000 kilometres of sewer pipes and 10 sewage treatment plants across Melbourne’s northern and eastern suburbs, we’re experts at managing odours and noise.

Here’s what we’re doing: • Using only approved commercial food waste suppliers and being selective of food waste we accept • Keeping a buffer distance of 750 metres to the closest household • Restricting potentially smelly or noisy activities to buildings behind closed doors • We won’t be storing food waste outside our buildings – unlike rubbish tips or composting facilities

• Getting expert advice about odour and noise from specialists • Building a new access road via Maroondah Highway, Coldstream to keep trucks away from Nelson Road, Lilydale and other local back streets • Working with VicRoads to explore options for improving road safety and reducing the traffic impact on Maroondah Highway.

• Making our buildings from noise-muffling materials and fitting them with odour control systems

We’ll be working closely with the Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) to make sure odour and noise are managed, and we’ll need to meet strict EPA requirements to obtain the Works Approval we need to build and operate the facility.

PROJECT PHASES TIMELINE

EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES with stakeholders

WE ARE HERE

Getting community feedback

FINALISING the design of the facility

the facility once planning and works are approved

We’re nearing the end of our tender process and will shortly be selecting a partner to design, construct and operate the facility. We plan to build from mid-2022 and start accepting waste from mid-2024.

We’re about to start planting native trees and shrubs on our land around the facility.

We’ll be communicating to you again in late 2021 to share what we’ve heard.

OPENING additional community benefits.

The Lilydale food waste to energy facility

Additional benefits for the local community

BUILDING

ENJOYING

13. What’s next?

and running the facility