Resource recovery facility operating at full capacity

Over 25,000 tonnes of a new source of nutrient-rich compost have been added to Perth’s agricultural soils over the past year. The source of the new supply of organic soil conditioner is the advanced resource recovery facility (RRF) at Neerabup, which recently completed its first full year of operation.

The facility, owned and operated by BioVision 2020 under a 20-year contract with the Mindarie Regional Council, is operating at full capacity and meeting expectations.

The RRF is designed to process 100,000 tonnes of household waste each year, recovering organics and metals for recycling.

The compost produced at the facility has been successfully marketed by Custom Compost and has been well received by the agricultural industry.

MRC Chairman Cr Russ Fishwick said that when the RRF commenced operation on 16 July last year it was hailed as a significant step forward in reducing the volume of household waste sent to landfill.

“I am pleased to report that the key performance indicators for the facility have been met, and visitors to the facility are uniformly impressed with the ability to recover usable material from household waste,” Cr Fishwick said.

The facility produces compost which will:

• Help enrich the nutrient deficient soils surrounding the Perth region.
• Lessen the annual volume of waste landfilled at Tamala Park.
• Slow the inevitable and expensive process of developing more landfill sites to service the community’s future needs.
• Significantly contribute to environmental sustainability, by lessening the volume of greenhouse gas created within the landfill and reducing the impact on global warming.

MRC awarded the $80 million contract to build, own and operate the plant to Biovision 2020 Pty Ltd for the next 20 years in late 2006.