Key takeaways
The underdeveloped Waste to Energy (WtE) sector in Australia presents significant economic and environmental opportunities, offering a reliable source of renewable energy together with a viable pathway to address key waste management challenges. Despite being a sector which has historically been overlooked in Australia in favour of other waste removal processes such as landfill, WtE projects have been implemented on a large scale globally, resulting in substantial benefits for countries such as the Netherlands.
WtE is considered a relatively stable domestic fuel source that can offer a dependable supply of baseload power, complementing other intermittent renewable energy sources. One recent study focusing on the potential of WtE technologies for residual solid waste in NSW estimated that by utilising a combination of incineration and anaerobic digestion for combustible and food parts of residual waste in NSW approximately 4165 GWh of electricity could be generated annually, the equivalent of about 5.9% of the total electricity generation in NSW. This conversion of WtE also equates to a reduction of about 1.7 million tonnes of GHG emissions annually. WtE therefore has the real potential to help further diversify the energy mix as Australia continues to strive toward a lower-carbon energy system.
Despite the potential opportunities for Australia, efforts to grow Australia’s WtE sector have been met with considerable community backlash. Communities are particularly weary of the emissions produced by WtE facilities. The growth of Australia’s WtE industry has also been curtailed by political obstacles such as the lack of national coordination of WtE policy, as well as concerns around the economic viability of WtE projects.
Among the numerous obstacles which the WtE industry in Australia faces, proponents of such projects are faced with an uphill battle of convincing affected communities and state governments that not only do WtE projects provide tangible utility, but also that such utility outweighs any adverse impact that these projects have on the community and environment.
What is Waste-to-Energy?
WtE involves the process of converting waste into usable energy in the form of electricity or heat. The processes of conversion vary but include combustion, gasification, pyrolysis and anaerobic digestion. Generally, large scale WtE facilities which process mixed waste streams from municipal and industrial sources use combustion to thermally treat the waste.
Currently, around 15% of the world’s collected waste is burned in WtE plants. Since at least the mid-20th Century, countries such as the United States, Netherlands and Germany have maintained hundreds of WtE plants. The use of WtE procedures is particularly prevalent in Europe, with countries such as Sweden, Denmark and Finland utilising WtE as their primary form of municipal waste treatment as well as a supplementary source of baseload power. In addition to the historical presence of WtE plants in Europe and North America, the global WtE industry is a rapidly expanding one, with major increases in the number of WtE plants in Asia and Africa over the past few years.
Current scope of Australia’s WtE sector
The growth of Australia’s WtE industry has been stagnant compared to the rest of the world, with WtE processes only contributing to 1% of Australia’s total electricity output, 1.4% below the OECD average. At present, Australia has no operating WtE plants.
The approaches taken by states and territories in Australia in implementing WtE processes has been entirely inconsistent. Some states have strongly pursued the growth of their WtE industry, while others have adopted a more cautious approach.
Progress on WtE projects in NSW has stalled with only one project, the Veolia Advanced Energy Recovery Centre (VAERC) outside Goulburn, currently progressing. This stagnation can be substantially attributed to the New South Wales Governments’ State Environmental Planning Policy (Transport and Infrastructure) Amendment (Thermal Energy from Waste) 2022 (NSW) (NSW Amendment Laws), which banned thermal energy from waste development and restricted licences for operating WtE facilities to four nominated regions in NSW. This amendment resulted in numerous WtE projects such as the proposed Matraville incinerator being abandoned. This policy position may shift in the future as the State’s landfill capacity becomes more constrained and the development of alternative energy supply options are delayed.
In contrast, Queensland’s Government aims to divert 90 percent of waste away from landfill by 2050. That government has encouraged the construction of WtE plants through a $45 million waste funding initiative in the 2024/25 Queensland Budget and Operational Plan. Key construction projects currently being undertaken in the Sunshine State include a $400 million WtE facility in Ipswich by Remondis, a $700 million facility in Bromelton and a $1.6 billion multi-facility project by the City of Gold Coast.
Current opportunities
Economic opportunities
The WtE industry presents substantial economic opportunity for Australia, with experts estimating that there was opportunity for up to $5 billion of new investment in the bioenergy and WtE sectors in Australia between 2015 and 2020.
WtE plants have the ability to produce significant amounts of energy. For example, the Goulburn VAERC facility alone will be able to produce enough electricity to power 40,000 homes a year. WtE plants also have the potential to reduce energy costs for businesses, a particularly attractive prospect given the recent rise to the cost of gas and electricity in Australia.
Environmental opportunities
The WtE industry presents a viable means of addressing environmental concerns faced by Australia, with one such concern being Australia’s significant dependence on landfill for waste. WtE plants have the ability to remove considerable amounts of waste, cutting down on this reliance on landfill. For example, the proposed Narwonah Energy and Circular Chemicals Project (NECCP) in Narromine is reported to be capable of processing more than a million tonnes of waste brought in by rail from across Australia’s east coast. By diverting waste from landfills, the WtE industry can assist in the reduction of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions. As well as aiding in tackling Australia’s landfill waste issue, the use of WtE plants would also reduce Australia’s reliance on fossil fuels for energy.
Current challenges
Political obstacles
The approach to the WtE industry by each Australian state and territory has differed, with no uniform national approach to the industry’s implementation and growth. On the one hand, states such as Queensland and Western Australia have adopted approaches which promote rapid expansion of the industry in their respective states. On the other hand, the NSW Amendment Laws signalled a clear intention by the NSW Government to limit the growth of the WtE sector. This lack of uniformity between the states and territories poses a major hurdle to the development of Australia’s WtE industry. As highlighted in the findings of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on the Environment and Energy following its 2019 inquiry into Australia’s waste management and recycling industries,
“the absence of wide-spread WtE plants in Australia is not due to a lack of interest. Inconsistent regulations, dated legislation, and a lack of policy certainty have all inhibited progress in this space.”
The Committee’s report ultimately recommended that a national policy be developed which clarifies the Commonwealth’s position on WtE technology and aims to ensure consistent regulations are put in place across the states and territories.
As WtE projects involve substantial long-term investment, they require policy stability and long-term governmental support for their success. Accordingly, proponents would likely benefit from looking to those jurisdictions with more established and steady policy and regulatory positions concerning the WtE sector.
Attractive alternatives
One difficulty experienced by the WtE industry in Australia is the particularly convenient nature of landfill. Given Australia’s over abundance of land situated in relatively close proximity to major cities, landfill has historically been a cheap option for waste management. This convenience means that there is less incentive for state governments and waste producers to change the system currently in place. In order for the WtE industry to gain strong traction in Australia, it must demonstrate that their projects are competitive with other options such as landfill.
In addition to this, WtE projects have also had to compete with other growing waste stream initiatives such as food organics and recycling, which are potentially more attractive projects for councils to pursue given their low-cost nature compared to large-scale WtE construction projects. For example, in northern NSW, the Richmond Valley Council paused all investigations into the viability of implementing WtE facilities, favouring instead other waste initiatives such as recycling.
Community opposition
A considerable barrier to the growth of the WtE industry in Australia is the strong community opposition that projects nationwide have been met with. Many community members have argued that these facilities lead to the contamination of rural regions through the emission of toxic gases by WtE plants. Some experts have warned that incineration of waste produces toxic pollutants which can have significant health effects such as birth defects. This community pressure has been so strong that many WtE projects have been abandoned as a result. For example, the proposed Matraville WtE plant had to be abandoned due to the introduction of the NSW Amendment Laws in 2022 the NSW Government introduced in response to community pressure.
Such concerns in relation to WtE should be balanced against the environmental impacts associated with landfills, that . have a reputation for causing surface and groundwater contamination when sites are poorly managed and leachate is not properly contained.
Careful consideration of the most appropriate locations for WtE facilities, away from local communities and sensitive areas will, no doubt, also be a key factor for the progression of the WtE industry in Australia.
Health concerns
The United Nations has issued health warnings in relation to the risks linked to the incineration of waste. European countries such as the Netherlands have introduced prohibitions on WtE plants due to environmental concerns, and France has issued warnings to residents living near WtE plants to avoid eating their garden produce.
Other obstacles
Many critics of the WtE industry fear that the increasing prevalence of WtE processes in Australia will encourage businesses to relax waste production or recycling efforts. Furthermore, many planned projects such as the Narwonah Energy and Circular Chemicals Project (NECCP) near Dubbo propose to use gasification technology, which according to experts is yet to be proven as a processor of municipal waste on a commercial scale.
Where to from here?
Whilst the future of the WtE sector in Australia remains somewhat uncertain, as Australia transitions toward more renewable energy sources it is apparent that the WtE industry has the potential to provide an alternative reliable source of baseload power to complement intermittent renewable sources like wind and solar energy.
Ultimately the trajectory of the WtE industry in Australia will depend on the regulatory policies implemented to support its development, the overall financial attractiveness of WtE projects compared to other renewable options, increased public acceptance and awareness of the benefits it presents and the country’s ability to innovate and scale still-emerging WtE technology.
