As a local community group, Transition Town Guildford was recently invited to a presentation by the East Metropolitan Regional Council (EMRC) on their proposed new Resource Recovery Park for Hazelmere. Waste and Recycling sub group members Barb Frey and myself attended. I was initially concerned that “Resource Recovery Park” might be PC-speak for “Rubbish Dump” and Hazelmere has had more than enough of that in the past. What followed was a plan for a recycling and power generating centre that appeared to be state-of-the-art though it does need some fine tuning.
Here are the basics:
Location
Just northwest of the junction of the Gt. Eastern Hwy. Bypass and Stirling Crescent.
We did raise concerns about increased traffic congestion in an already strained area with large numbers of trucks trying to access the site. EMRC said they will carry out a full traffic study before construction. The current plan relies on access from the Lloyd St extension which is nowhere in sight. Another possible access is directly off the Bypass.
Current use
Wood shredding. Previously used for wood chips- recycled for chipboard.
Mattress recycling. Mattresses are diverted from landfill and stripped/recycled.
Proposed additions
Wood / Pyrolysis Plant
Wood is to be shredded and fed in to a pyrolysis plant. Electricity is generated by wood being heated and the gasses burnt to run a generator. 11000 tonnes of wood is expected to be burnt to produce 3MW of power annually. This would power 3000 homes. BioChar would be produced as a by-product. EMRC has yet to receive environmental approval for the pyrolysis plant.
Recycling
Kerbside rubbish collection material will be sorted and recycled.
Green Waste
Kerbside green waste will be shredded then sent to landfill. This seemed like a real waste of mulch. We suggested the mulch should be made available to the public.
Tip Shop
This is the best (in my view) bit. The EMRC will run a tip shop at the site where still useful collected items will be sold to the public.
Education Centre
To educate the public on recycling. Very worthwhile!
Timeline
Most of the construction is expected to be completed in the next 2 years.
All told it was a good presentation. There are a few bugs to iron out but we appreciated that the EMRC was consulting with the community as part of their project planning.
Image supplied by EMRC.
Transition Town Guildford 