Canning acting chief executive Graeme Bride said it would be the first waste to energy unit of its kind in the greater Perth Metropolitan area. He projected it would save the City $1.5 million per year with the new facility resulting in a net carbon saving of 54,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents per annum.
‘The new plant, if it goes ahead, will secure the City’s future waste disposal and avoid the increasing costs of landfill waste disposal,’ Mr Bride said.
‘It will be a great outcome for the community and for the environment.’
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READ NOWThe use of a waste to energy facility means the City will avoid the increasing landfill tax. The tax charge is $28 per tonne and will go up to $55 per tonne on January 1, 2015.
The City will not join the RRC, but will become a participant in a tender to use a yet to be constructed waste to energy facility.
Phoenix Energy in the Kwinana industrial area will operate it.
Mr Bride said the City would have no ownership and limited financial responsibility for the operation.
‘The only requirement for the City will be to deliver the agreed waste tonnage per year,’ he said.
‘Under the terms of the draft agreement, the City will commit 18,400 tonnes of waste per year to the facility, with the option of delivering an additional 26,800 tonnes.’
The waste to energy plant combusts waste at around 1000 degrees Celsius, the resulting energy will be used to generate electricity, which will be sold to local industrial power users in Kwinana.
Excess heat generated from the process will be exported to businesses in the area.
The City’s current waste transfer station will continue to operate, with waste from that facility going to the new waste to energy facility.
Green waste and recyclable material are not included in the agreement.
Construction of the plant is set to start in 2015 with the plant operational from 2016/17.