Landfill captures gas to generate energy

Managing the waste stream

Each time the residents of Brisbane and its surrounding suburbs put their bins out for collection they are helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through Thiess Services’ Swanbank Waste Management Facility (SWMF) — turning everyday waste into usable green energy.

One of the largest waste-to-energy projects in Australia, the facility has the capacity to capture enough energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 364,000 tonnes per year, which is equivalent to powering 9400 homes or planting 37,000 hectares of trees.

The landfill facility uses a process known as ReOrganic Energy where methane gas generated by decomposing waste in engineered landfill cells is captured and pumped to the adjoining CS Energy power station where it is used to generate electricity.

The landfill cells at the SWMF are fully engineered to prevent leachate from escaping into the surrounding environment. The fully engineered, multilayered liner systems house a network of collection pipes that facilitate leachate collection and recirculation back into the cells to maintain moisture levels and promote waste decomposition and gas generation.

Since land filling commenced at Swanbank in 1997, Thiess Services has endeavoured to create a facility capable of managing every aspect of the waste stream.

Along with the development of the waste-to-energy project and the manufacturing of a FastGrow soil conditioning product, Thiess Services also uses the facility as an environmental ‘interpretive’ education centre for schools and community groups.

Encouraged by the success of the project, Thiess Services and its ReOrganic partners CS Energy and LMS are planning further initiatives and projects for the use of landfill gas and co-firing of gas for renewable energy generation in the next few years.