Willoughby's general waste is transported by rail to Veolia Environmental Services' Woodlawn Eco-Project facility, located 250km south of Sydney near Goulburn. Once there, organic waste is extracted and processed by the Mechanical and Biological Treatment (MBT).
The output is used for daily cover of the landfill and in a tailings dam. The remaining waste is deposited into the Bioreactor, which breaks down waste rapidly. Gas and leachate produced in the Bioreactor is extracted, with the methane used to produce green energy.
The landfill also has significant gas capture, currently at 75%, which is used on site to power Veolia operations. At full capacity, Woodlawn Bioreactor (and the on-site wind farm) is expected to generate almost 300,000MWh per year, providing equivalent power for 37,500 homes per year.
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