As our population grows, so too does the amount of waste we produce.
Local councils have introduced recycling bins, greenwaste recycling and a range of waste education programs to encourage residents to reduce waste to landfill. Resource recovery seeks to complement these existing waste management solutions by dealing with the waste left over in rubbish bins and vergeside after residents have reduced, re-used and recycled their waste.
There are two facets to EMRC's Resource Recovery Project: the Resource Recovery Facility and the Resource Recovery Park.
Resource recovery facilities
Resource recovery facilities are designed to treat and recover materials and/or energy from waste through thermal, chemical and/or biological means.
They have the potential to divert between 70-90% of waste (by volume) from landfill and provide a solution where we can turn waste into valuable products such as compost or energy.
Useful products from a resource recovery facility are:
Compost/soil conditioner and fertiliser
Electricity and heat
Biogas and synthesis gas fuel
Recyclables (plastics, metals)
Resource recovery parks
Resource recovery parks are designed to receive, store, process, repair and dismantle society's discarded materials, with the goal of selling them either for reuse in industry, or directly back to the public.
Feedstock for a resource recovery park can be household bulk waste (appliances, furniture, etc); commercial waste; demolition/renovation waste; greenwaste and timber.
Useful products from resource recovery parks are:
Recyclables
Repaired or refurbished goods for resale
Building materials/hardware/household goods
Compost/mulch/ground timber fines
Recycled concrete
The Resource Recovery Project is aimed at having a fully operational resource recovery solution in place by approximately 2016. This will involve a resource recovery facility and/or a resource recovery park.
The diagram below illustrates EMRC's vision for an integrated waste solution in Perth's Eastern Region:
Note from the diagram that both the Resource Recovery Facility and Resource Recovery Park lead to the production of compost. To my understanding, Gasification doesn’t do that.
