Recycling Services

Bioreactor Landfills

Veolia Environmental Services' commitment to innovation and the environment is evidenced by its development of Bioreactor Technology at two sites: Woodlawn - 250 km south-east of Sydney in NSW, and Ti Tree Bioenergy near Ipswich in south-east Queensland.

Bioreactors - one of the leading forms of alternative waste technology - are purpose built facilities designed to accelerate the decomposition process of residual waste and maximise the capture of biogas yields for conversion into green electricity.

This is achieved by placing an extensive network of pipes through the waste and careful control of water, leachate recirculation, acid levels, and temperature and microbe levels in each bioreactor cell.

The rapid decomposition of the waste and biogas capture expedites the stabilisation of the waste and greatly reduces the escape of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Woodlawn (NSW)

The Woodlawn Bioreactor is located in a disused 25 million cubic metre opencut mine. The Woodlawn Bioreactor has been in operation since 2005 and in this time has taken over 600, 000 tonnes of waste from Sydney within that period. As a consequence, plans are now underway to produce green energy using the methane created by this waste.

Putrescible waste is transported to Woodlawn by rail from Sydney after being containerised at Veolia Environmental Services's transfer terminal situated in Clyde, NSW. The Sydney terminal incorporates dust suppression systems, three-tier odour management safeguards and noise barriers which make it the most advanced facility of its kind in Australia.

Aside from producing green electricity from waste at Woodlawn, Veolia Environmental Services is also undertaking mine rehabilitation works and progressing with innovative wind farm, aquaculture and horticulture projects at the site.

Woodlawn Bioreactor

619 Collector Road,
Tarago, NSW 2580

Ti Tree Bioenergy (QLD)

The Ti Tree Bioenergy facility is located in a former open cut coal mine served by excellent transport links, including the adjacent existing rail infrastructure. Its location makes it ideally suited to provide technically-advanced waste management solutions to the expanding population of south-east Queensland.

This fully engineered and contained facility uses bioreactor technology to rapidly stabilise the waste, generating green renewable electricity and helping to rehabilitate the open cut mine site.

The degrading waste mass produces landfill gas which is mostly methane. This gas is captured through a network of horizontal and vertical gas lines and fed to the power station. Specially designed engines utilise the gas as a fuel source, generating green electricity used to power homes and businesses in the region. Over the next 10 years green power generation is expected to increase to 10 MWh which is equivalent to powering over 12,000 homes; or removing 90,000 cars from the roads; or planting 1.4 million trees.

Take a detailed guided tour of the Ti Tree Bioenergy facility.