An innovative solution for leachate is now accessible in even the remotest landfills in New South Wales after the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority (NSW EPA) recently granted BeneTerra a mobile treatment licence to deploy its BeneVap technology to manage leachate at landfills across the state.
Victoria McKay is the Project Manager for BeneTerra’s waste management sector. She says it’s a win for landfill operators seeking an environmentally and economically sound solution to leachate management.
By actively reducing the total leachate volume that a site needs to manage, BeneTerra’s BeneVap technology reduces the cost and risk associated with onsite passive evaporation ponds or sending leachate, either by trucking or direct connection, through a sewer system.
“This style of licensing means these types of advanced management techniques are no longer only feasible for the big players with the time and budget to put into lengthy licence amendments and capex projects. It’s a win for the small-to-medium landfill operators who are finding it harder to access even the more common leachate management options and technologies as disposal costs rise and emerging contaminants become problematic for sewer operators,” Victoria says.
Leachate is formed when rain filters through the waste placed in a landfill. If it’s not adequately managed, it can leak pollutants, including heavy metals and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) into groundwater or stormwater systems, damaging the environment directly or leading to bioaccumulation in the food chain.
Additionally, common characteristic of leachate, including high nitrogen or suspended solids, can upset the biological processes of the sewerage treatment plants that often don’t have capacity to accept the volume of leachate being managed by landfills daily as a result of legacy leachate issues.
Victoria says the adoption of better landfill design, retrofitting capture systems into legacy wastes, and improvements in landfill operations practices has triggered a greater awareness of contaminant management in landfills.
However, as landfill operators get better at capture and containment of leachate, the cost and environmental impacts of managing these higher volumes using traditional methods needs to be acknowledged.
The push to obtain a mobile licence for BeneTerra was based around councils serving small-to medium populations and those in regional settings, allowing them use of the technology without the need to approve the significant capital investment of a connection to sewer or pond, or solely relying on a trade waste agreement as the regulatory space evolves.
It’s been a four-year process, but BeneTerra is now believed to be the only company with a mobile treatment licence for leachate in New South Wales. This means clients can use the BeneVap technology in their landfill for up to six months every calendar year without requiring direct amendments to their site environmental licence.
The BeneVap was an adaptation of a submerged combustion technology initially invented as management technique for piles of cleared salted snow in the United States. With BeneTerra’s version of the technology, the process can be used to reduce the volume of leachate handled on-site by between 90 and 95 per cent.
The system evaporates the water component of the leachate, leaving behind a more benign form of the original contaminants which can then be safely returned to the landfill containment cell. Unlike a kettle evaporating water, BeneTerra’s technology doesn’t bulk boil the leachate to drive off the water vapour and it also isn’t a pressure vessel, making it safe to operate physically and environmentally.
BeneTerra Chemical Engineer Nikita Sharma worked closely with NSW EPA throughout the licence application, answering technical questions about the environmental impacts and how the BeneVap process works. This ensured that the NSW EPA was satisfied the technology was safe to use across the range of landfill types.
Nikita, who also has a Masters degree in Environmental Engineering, devised a site-specific risk assessment framework to guide the mobile licence’s process and monitoring practices. This framework will ensure environmental protection for every landfill site using the technology.
“The waste characteristics in landfill will determine the leachate chemistry, its contaminant levels and volumes,” Nikita says. “We match our operations to the specific leachate and site characteristics and model our emissions profile to give each site and the regulator confidence in the unit’s capability.”
The BeneVap system was first used in Australian landfills to remove leachate after extreme rain events in southeast Queensland in 2017. The success of that project has led to its deployment across more than 12 landfills across the east coast of Australia, Northern Territory, Tasmania, New Zealand, and the USA to ensure contaminants don’t enter the environment.
BeneTerra’s in-house engineering team continues to improve the technology as market pressures evolve. One improvement was developing the machines to run on a variety of fuels including landfill gas. This means landfill operators who participate in an Emissions Reduction Fund project, capturing and combusting their landfill gas, can claim carbon credits while managing their leachate using a BeneVap.
Victoria, who will lead the mobile operations, has a perfect alignment of passions and experience – she has a PhD in organic chemistry and worked for several years in Bundaberg Regional Council’s waste operations team, following this up with a stint in the landfill gas industry.
“Having worked for a regional landfill operations and compliance team, I have experienced what it’s like to try and find leachate solutions that meet compliance requirements, are practical, and don’t add budget pressure on a community,” Victoria says.
“Understanding that landfill gas is a resource and being aware of the practical and financial value of it, the BeneVap is a nice combination of those two concepts.”
BeneTerra has been solving difficult wastewater challenges in Australia since 2010, drawing on the experience of a team of scientists, engineers, regulatory experts and contractors.
Tony Stapleton, Chief Executive Officer, says the team understands the complexities of environmental sustainability and tailors solutions to meet the unique needs of clients across the different industries the business supports.
This involves first looking at the chemistry then a detailed understanding of the environmental impacts and conditions of the local site.
He’s confident the mobile treatment licence for leachate will have wide-ranging benefits, given the increasing focus on environmental outcomes and regulatory restrictions.
“We’re always looking for technological or engineering solutions to the problems the industry faces every day,” Tony says.
“With BeneTerra’s team today and the technology, we’ve got enough runs on the board in landfill management in Australia and New Zealand to know that this treatment has applicability across the entire industry.
“It’s our mission to ensure that contaminants in wastewater do not negatively impact the surrounding environment whether that be air, local water/groundwater or soils.”
For more information, visit: www.beneterra.com