New Resource Recovery Infrastructure
The last active cell at Eaglehawk Landfill will soon reach capacity and in 2014 the City made a commitment not to establish any new landfills. In 2020 the City commenced its circular economy solutions program to find solutions to recover resources.
The Greater Bendigo City Council has conditionally agreed to enter into a 20-year waste service agreement with Advanced Energy Tech P/L (AET) that will see new sterilisation, sorting and recovery technology utilised to process the City’s general waste, in order to recover materials for recycling and repurposing rather than sending them to landfill.
The new facility will consist of waste receival, material sterilisation, screening and sorting and product storage and transport areas.
Subject to regulatory and planning approvals, the new facility will initially have the capacity to process up to 30,000 tonnes per annum with the ability to expand to up to 80,000 tonnes to support other regional local government areas in the future.
The City is currently working through the terms of the 20 year agreement with Advanced Energy Tech for them to design, build, own and operate the facility.
Frequently asked questions
With the last active cell at Eaglehawk Landfill set to reach capacity in the coming years and in conjunction with City placing a moratorium on the development of new landfills in the region in 2014, the Circular Greater Bendigo project commenced to find circular economy solutions for our recovered resources post closure of the Eaglehawk Landfill.
The City of Greater Bendigo currently transports approximately 20,000 tonnes of residential general waste to the Patho Landfill near Echuca each year. Transport of waste to other locations is not in line with the City of Greater Bendigo's Circular Economy and Zero Waste Policy and Climate Change and Environment Strategy 2021- 2026.
The proposed solution will divert approximately 95% of the City’s residential general waste from landfill, recovering things like plastics, metals and organics to be recirculated, that would otherwise have gone to landfill.
The company is Advanced Energy Tech.
Advanced Energy Tech is a project development company based in central Victoria, focused on delivering advanced resource recovery and bioenergy projects for rural and regional communities within Australia.
The new facility will consist of waste receival, material sterilisation, screening and sorting and product storage and transport areas.
The core infrastructure will work to sort the contents of the general waste bin into what is recyclable and what is food and garden organics, with a minor amount of non-recyclable general waste remaining.
The plastic and metal recyclable materials collected will be used to produce new products.
Sterlisation is a low temperature thermal treatment that only slightly modifies the material and enables the materials to be recovered and separated to a high level. This means over 95% of materials can be recovered and recycled from the waste stream.
The site of the new municipal solid waste receival and treatment facility is yet to be determined, the City is working with Advanced Energy Tech to identify appropriately zoned land for the new facility to operate from. The facility must be located on industrial land within 25km of the City Centre. Advanced Energy Tech will be responsible for obtaining all relevant permits and meeting all regulatory requirements of relevant authorities including the Environment Protection Authority.
It is anticipated the new facility will take up to five years to become operational. Only then will Advanced Energy Tech start to process the City’s general waste.
At this stage Advanced Energy Tech still need to design and build the facility before they can operate it and receive municipal solid waste.
Yes. The development would be subject to a transparent planning and regulatory approvals process and the contract is subject to this process being successful. Planning approval for the new facility will be a process for Advanced Energy Tech to undertake. Independent regulators, including the Environment Protection Authority will be responsible for reviewing and granting the required licences for waste related operations.
The initial contract with the City of Greater Bendigo is based on the 22,000 tonnes per annum the City collects from residential properties. The facility will have a maximum capacity to process 30,000 tonnes of waste per year with the potential to expand to up to 80,000 tonnes to support other regional local government areas in the future if required.
As part of the planning process Advanced Energy Tech will be required to demonstrate how they will manage various factors such as noise, odour, pest control and traffic movements.
Planning approval must be to the satisfaction of various referral agencies and authorities such as the Department of Energy, Environment & Climate Action, Environment Protection Authority, North Catchment Management Authority and Department of Transport and Planning.
The City’s general waste service is a cost neutral service which means the City passes on the actual cost of providing the service to ratepayers.
The new facility will deliver an outcome which is environmentally and socially superior to landfilling valuable materials and is a comparable cost to existing practices.
It is envisaged that the agreement with Advanced Energy Tech will reduce costs over the life of the contract given that the Victorian Government waste levy costs, that Council must pay for every tonne of waste that is sent to landfill, will continue to increase in the future.