Food scraps, wastewater, fats, oils and grease from homes and businesses could be diverted from landfill and converted to renewable energy, with potential to generate enough energy to power 120,000 new homes.
The potential of the revolutionary Advanced Water Recycling Centre in the Western Parkland City was unveiled in October of this year at a forum hosted by the Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue.
The forum heard economic modelling commissioned by Sydney Water and Circular Australia and completed by the UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures showed the process known as co-digestion could divert up to 30,000 tonnes of organic waste from landfill each year by 2030.
“Every $1 million spent turning food waste into energy generates $2.67 million worth of value…this has the potential to activate a circular economy ecosystem in the Western Parkland City, acting as a hub and catalyst for circular management of water, energy and other resources” as said by Mr Cheroux, Managing Director of Sydney Water.
The Centre will be operational by 2026 and will have the potential to convert waste into energy using a mix of existing and innovative technologies.
Lisa McLean, CEO of Circular Australia, said the circular economy model was critical for Western Sydney’s future economic sustainability.
“What we’ve seen over the past five years in this region is a consistent pattern of volatile weather, an increasing prevalence of natural disasters, rising temperatures and rising cost-of-living expenses,” Ms McLean said.
Evidently a transition to a circular economy is not a nice-to-have, it’s a must have.
