The clean energy transition is well underway in Australia and environmental services leader Tellus is playing its role.
The Sandy Ridge waste management facility, 240 kilometres northwest of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, is an opportunity for Tellus to play a key role in supporting the development of an Australian energy-from-waste (EfW) industry, says Nate Smith, Tellus Chief Executive Officer.
Tellus has partnered with the East Rockingham waste-to-energy plant, south of Perth, which will soon commence processing 300,000 tonnes of waste and produce 29 MW of energy each year – enough to power 36,000 homes.
Nate says the EfW sector has the potential to support clean energy generation in other Australian regions too. He says rising environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards mean industrial organisations are looking for waste management partners who can demonstrate highest environmental and safety standards increasingly demanded by communities across the country.
New waste streams bring new challenges. As Australia’s only nationwide geological repository, and the only nationwide facility rated Class V, Tellus’ Sandy Ridge operations offer the flexibility, space, and opportunity to partner with a wide range of industrial customers.
While new to Australia, geological repositories are a tried and tested management method for Air Pollution Control residue (APCr) from EfW internationally. Nate says they are safe enough to take a wide range of hazardous chemical waste material and, in Tellus’ case, even low-level radioactive waste and mercury. Sandy Ridge also provides the safest permanent solution for challenging materials such as APCr, where the complex composition and origin of the waste makes safe and sustainable handling important.
“Not only does it meet the highest environmental standards, Sandy Ridge has also earned a strong social licence to operate, with community support via its native title agreement with the local Marlinyu-Ghoorlie people of the Kalgoorlie region,” Nate says.
“Along with its dry, stable geology, a unique Financial Assurance Deed that means environmental liabilities will be funded for 100 years post-closure, and a world-class safety case, Sandy Ridge can uniquely safeguard waste producers’ reputation and ESG objectives by certifying that all future disposal liability is eradicated. This guarantee provides the EfW industry a crucial green checkmark and peace of mind for their communities.”
Working with its flagship EfW customer, Tellus has worked to design a bespoke supply chain and waste methodology from scratch to support the 24/7, 365-days-a-year nature of electricity generation.
“We’re excited about the opportunity for energy from waste electricity supply for the residents of Perth, and that we can play a role in enabling this industry to safely start up and scale up, right here in Western Australia,” Nate says.
“We’re building a true partnership. We have signed contracts and are preparing to receive at Sandy Ridge the first APCr generated from EfW in Australia.”
For Tellus, this will be a positive challenge. Like all waste generated by new industries, the APCr waste generated in Perth can’t be assessed or characterised before the first receival and the material is expected to contain a wide variety of compounds that will benefit from a single disposal solution.
Despite these inherent challenges, this material potentially also contains renewable resources. For example, in some EfW plants overseas, about three per cent by volume of non-ferrous metals has been found in comparable materials.
Partnering to enable new green energy projects is the kind of scenario Sandy Ridge was built for. It aligns with Tellus’ wider mission to support and enable Australia’s clean energy transition by functioning as a critical “backstop” in a systems-based waste management approach. Using this unique position in the green electricity supply chain opens the opportunity to instigate and accelerate industry-led research.
Tellus’ circular economy approach is led by the establishment of Sandy Ridge Labs, a venture designed to find reuse and recycling opportunities from challenging waste streams.
“In the short term, the APCr materials that arrive in a fine powder form can replace virgin materials such as concrete in our current waste processing, reducing overall carbon emissions,” Nate says.
“To accelerate this circular economy effect in the longer term, some form of processing or resource extraction could be achieved to recycle these compounds for beneficial reuse in other industrial processes.” Tellus is in discussions with technology providers to support this innovation.
With market interest in developing EfW projects in other Australian states, there have been early concerns from communities and regulators about social licence and environmental best practice. Nate says the ability to address such feedback marks Tellus and Sandy Ridge as an ideal partner for EfW proponents.
“We believe we have the best facility and the best sustainability practices to enable the growth of this important sector. We’re already learning lessons from our partnership in Perth that will deliver benefits for both of us and can be leveraged by new EfW project proponents and environmental regulators across Australia,” Nate says. “This should hopefully mean plants can come to market much more quickly and be accepted by the community who’ll benefit from greener energy in the grid.”
For more information, visit: www.tellusholdings.com
