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Perth’s growing population has seen waste volumes increase and every metropolitan regional council in Perth is either involved in or is planning a resource recovery facility for municipal waste because the alternative of transporting rubbish long distances to new landfills will be costly. A more sustainable solution is required.

Resource recovery facilities (RRFs) have considerable environmental advantages over landfilling. They minimise:

• Greenhouse gas emissions
• Odour, dust, noise, litter
• Surface and groundwater contamination
• Impacts on flora and fauna
• Legacy issues associated with landfill.

Resource recovery facilities are able to convert waste into resources, such as compost and/or energy.

Resource recovery facilities have screening processes so that potential recyclables and hazardous materials which would otherwise go to landfill can be separated before processing.

Resource recovery is also a priority for the state government and its waste strategy sets targets for all local councils to reduce household waste to landfill and increase resource recovery.

Research undertaken by EMRC indicate that there are a number of commercially proven RRF technologies available for the treatment of municipal waste. The use of RRFs is also becoming necessary in some parts of the world to meet strict environmental directives such as the European Union Landfill Directive. 
 

In 2010/11, around 309,300 tonnes of waste was disposed of at Red Hill, including 126,000 tonnes of member council waste plus commercial waste and other wastes.

Based on recent estimates, the total amount of member council municipal waste is expected to increase to 185,000 tonnes per annum by the year 2034/35.

Since 2004, EMRC has undertaken community engagement activities for the Resource Recovery Project. Community input through workshops, surveys, information sessions and reference group meetings has informed the decision process to date. Information on the project has also been made available to the public through EMRC newsletters and on EMRC’s website. This will continue throughout the project.

• Activities in the past 18 months have included:
• Updates in local newspapers, EMRC and R-Gang websites.
• Resource Recovery newsletters (Red Hill local residents, libraries and council offices).
• Letterbox drops to residents in the areas surrounding Red Hill.
• Ongoing Red Hill Community Liaison Group meetings.
• Meetings/ briefings with resident groups and associations.
• Shopping centre displays.
• Two information sessions on waste to energy (April 2010) and anaerobic digestion (June 2011) with expert presenters.
• A community forum was held in 2010 to capture feedback about the facility and was used by the Community Task Force in developing the Community Partnership Agreement (CPA) outlined below.
• Formation of a Community Task Force, comprised of members of the local community near the preferred site, who were responsible for the development of a Community Partnership Agreement (finalised in August 2011). The CPA identifies social issues associated with the facility and shows how they will be addressed by EMRC and/or the operator. The issues addressed in the CPA range from communications and reporting to community, quality control, transparent and open monitoring of issues, emissions, noise impacts and safety. The agreement will form part of the tender specifications to be addressed in the tender process.
• Joint meeting of the Waste Management Community Reference Group and CTF in December 2011 to brief the group on the outcomes of the environmental impact assessment.
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Further information is available at the Community Engagement page.

The final cost of the facility will not be known until tenders are called and evaluated in 2013.

The anticipated cost is in the range of $50 to $100 million depending on the technology and scale of operation. The expected cost to ratepayers is estimated at around $38 per household per year (again depending on the technology option). This takes into account the capital and operating costs over the life of the facility (20 years).

The cost to ratepayers is an incremental change until loans are repaid.