Waste to energy circular economy opportunities
Waste to energy is a technology process that turns waste materials into different types of energy forms including heat, electricity, gas, and fuel.
Waste to energy technologies and supply chains are playing a vital role in the transition to a circular economy in Victoria. Waste to energy provides strong opportunities for businesses to transition their energy away from direct fossil fuel use. Waste to energy technologies and systems can reduce material going to landfill, save costs, and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
Source: Recycling Victoria policy The recovery of energy from waste fits in line with the waste hierarchy as a final opportunity to recover materials option after avoidance, reuse, and recycling. This ensures we achieve the best possible economic and environmental outcomes for waste that would otherwise go to landfill.
Waste to energy technologies
Waste to energy technologies fall into 2 broad categories:
- Thermal waste to energy – processes like combustion, gasification and pyrolysis which use heat to turn waste into useful energy resources.
- Biological processing of organic waste (bioenergy) – processes like anaerobic digestion and fermentation which use biological processes to convert organic waste into useful energy resources.
Victorian waste to energy policy
The way waste to energy is managed in Victoria is changing.
The Victorian Government’s waste to energy policy was published in February 2020 as part of Recycling Victoria: A New Economy policy.
The Recycling Victoria policy is a 10-year plan that steps out the systemic change that’s needed to cut waste and boost recycling and reuse of our precious resources.
In November 2021, the Victorian waste to energy framework was released as part of the Recycling Victoria policy.
The Victorian waste to energy framework recognises the role of waste to energy to divert waste from landfills. It strikes the right balance to focus on waste avoidance and recycling in Victoria's transition to a circular economy.
Read about Recycling Victoria’s circular economy policy.
Victorian waste to energy scheme
Victoria’s Waste to Energy Scheme licenses and regulates operators to ensure only specific amounts and types of waste are used in thermal waste to energy processing.
Opportunities
- Victoria’s Gas Substitution Roadmap highlights alternative gases, such as hydrogen and biomethane, are likely to play a significant and growing role in Victoria’s energy future.
- The Australia Renewable Energy Agency Bioenergy Roadmap reveals that by the start of the next decade, Australia’s bioenergy sector could contribute to around $10 billion in extra GDP per annum, create 26,200 new jobs, reduce emissions by about 9 per cent, divert an extra 6 per cent of waste from landfill, and enhance fuel security.
- Opportunities also exist in:
- renewable fuel production including biodiesel and sustainable aviation fuel
- processing incinerator bottom ash from thermal waste-to-energy facilities into aggregate for road infrastructure and civil development projects.
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For more information on waste data visit Recycling Victoria’s Data Hub.
