What happens to our garbage (red lid bin)?

The garbage in the red lid bin is currently taken to Clyde rail head where it is compacted into containers and railed down to a big hole in the ground about half way between Goulburn and Canberra (Woodlawn Bioreactor). The hole was left behind by a zinc, copper and lead mine, and since 2004 Veolia has been working to turn the contaminated site into one of Australia’s premier green energy facilities.

At Woodlawn our waste is processed in a way that maximises the production of biogas. This is used to generate electricity, and in the last 10 years over four million tonnes of waste has been turned into 34.5 million cubic metres of methane. The site currently exports enough power to meet the needs of over 6,000 homes per annum.

As significant as the bioreactor’s 6MW of electricity generation is, since 2011 it has been overshadowed by the output of 23 turbines generating 48.3MW, enough power to meet the needs of 23,000 homes.

Generating electricity produces a lot of heat. Waste heat from the generators is used to warm water to just the right temperature to keep Barramundi happy. Woodlawn’s aquaculture facility produces 2.5 tonnes of this highly sought after fish.