A new cutting-edge recycling facility has been established in Melbourne’s west, further boosting Victoria’s thriving waste and resource recovery sector.
Western Water’s $3.3 million Melton Waste to Energy Facility will treat up to 5,000 kilolitres of liquid food waste each year – including leftover cooked meals, food scraps, fats, oils, old drinks and greases – from local businesses and convert it into biogas.
With organic waste representing over 30 per cent of the total solid waste sent to the state’s landfills, this waste to energy facility is an important part of the Victorian Government’s targets to reduce the amount of organic waste that ends up in landfill.
The facility will generate up to 1,000 megawatt hours of renewable electricity, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 900 tonnes annually – the equivalent of taking 300 cars off the road each year.
The biogas produced at the facility will be used to power the Melton Recycled Water Plant on site, reducing reliance on the grid and cutting Western Water’s energy costs. This is in line with the greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets in the Victorian Government’s Water for Victoria plan.
The facility will contribute to the Government’s goal of halving the amount of organic material going to the state’s landfills by 2030 and assist Victoria in meeting its zero net carbon target by 2050.
The Waste to Energy Infrastructure fund is part of the Government’s ground-breaking $380 million Recycling Victoria package, which is expanding Victoria’s recycling system and reducing the amount of waste going to landfill.
