A portion of general waste from City of Canning residents will be sent to a processing plant in Kwinana, known as the Kwinana Energy Recovery (KER) facility, where it will be converted into energy.
As the plant is Australia’s first standalone large-scale waste-to-energy facility, the City is among the first local governments nationally to send general waste to a facility that converts it into energy.
Once fully operational, the facility is expected to convert up to 460,000 tonnes of waste from landfills annually and generate more than 38 megawatts of electricity, enough to power approximately 55,000 homes.
It is also expected that the facility will help reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to the equivalent of removing 85,000 cars from Perth’s roads each year.
Canning Mayor Patrick Hall said he believes the energy recovery facility is a positive step forward for both the City and Western Australia.
“Energy recovery from waste is an important step within the waste hierarchy. The KER facility presents a fantastic opportunity for the City to reduce its impact from landfilling and further promote a circular economy,” Mayor Hall said.
“The City of Canning has been on a long journey to see this project come to fruition, and I am excited to announce that we will be one of the first Local Governments in Australia to harness this technology, most commonly used across Europe and other parts of the world”.
However, Mayor Hall is also promoting alternatives to waste disposal, urging residents to focus on reducing their waste first, with the facility serving as a last resort.
“I would also like to continue to encourage residents to sell, gift, or donate unwanted items that are in good condition and to continue home composting of organic waste,” he said.
“The goal should always be to reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible before it ends up in the general waste bin. Good waste sorting is an indispensable step before Energy Recovery.”
Waste that arrives at KER is inspected for environmental compliance and combustion suitability before being mixed and fed into a boiler, where it is burned.
The resulting heat is converted into steam, which powers a turbine to generate electricity, that’s then fed onto the power grid.
The remnant bottom ash produced during the energy recovery process is treated to remove metals for recycling, with the remaining material repurposed for road and construction projects, further reducing waste.
As a result of waste treatment at the KER facility, the City of Canning and other local governments across WA are expected to achieve some of the highest landfill diversion rates in the country.
