The City has secured the first facility as part of a plan to end reliance on landfill and provide a sustainable solution for waste management into the future.
The purchase of a $90 million organics processing facility at Yatala is a significant step forward for the Advanced Resource Recovery Centre (ARRC), an integrated recycling and energy precinct that will divert up to 97% of waste sent to landfill.
The investment has secured green waste recycling for the Gold Coast, and opportunities for food waste recycling over the long term.
With Gold Coast landfills forecast to reach capacity within the next 10 years at current volumes of waste to landfill, the ARRC project is vital for increasing recycling rates and avoiding the need to transport waste to landfills outside of the Gold Coast.
Purchasing the existing organics processing facility, rather than building a new one as originally planned, has saved significant construction and planning costs and fast-tracked a solution that boosts the City's sustainable waste management goals.
"The organics recycling sector in South-East Queensland is facing significant challenges, with a key organics processor unable to continue to provide services, jeopardising our ability to recycle organics," said Mayor Tom Tate.
"We have had the foresight to recognise the difficulties facing the sector, and move to ensure the green organics collected from Gold Coast homes won't end up in landfill and cost ratepayers more in waste levy fees.
"We need a dedicated facility to ensure we can continue to improve our recycling and landfill diversion.
"This is the first step in our pioneering plan that will cement the Gold Coast as Australia's leading circular economy-focused city."
Mayor Tate said agreement had been reached with the sellers, and the facility would be called ARRC Organics when the sale is finalised.
"We are hoping to take over in September, but the start time will depend on the State Government providing a sign off, which we're working on with Queensland Treasury at the moment."
Feasibility studies into the ARRC, which are ongoing, included looking into the costs, technical options and potential location to construct a new organics facility.
During this process, an opportunity to acquire an existing facility near the ARRC Stapylton precinct was identified.
Investigations into this option found it represented potential cost-savings as compared to a new build, while allowing an immediate implementation of a key part of the ARRC plan, saving several years and enabling a much faster timeframe for the community to enjoy the benefits of the facility.
Due diligence of this option has been thoroughly undertaken and reported to Council to inform the decision to proceed.
This includes ensuring:
- economic modelling demonstrates that the purchase represents cost-savings over the long-term for ratepayers
- that equipment and operations adhere to environmental laws and protections
- that technology in use is advanced, proven and best available.
Mayor Tate said the facility presents a potential sustainable waste solution for the south-east region and existing contracts would be honoured as part of the purchase agreement.
"This facility provides the opportunity for potential economic returns for Gold Coast ratepayers, with the ability to service other customers," he said.
"This investment positions the Gold Coast as the leading recycler of organic matter in the south-east.
"In 2023, we rolled out the expansion of green organics bins as part of our standard bin collections service, and we now have more than 130,000 green bins in the community.
"That effort has diverted an extra 9000 tonnes per year of green waste from landfill to instead be recycled into compost, and it lifted our overall recycling rate from 36% to 40%.
"This facility also enables us to further investigate food organics recycling which we know the community is very interested in.
"Through the ARRC project we will continue to forge ahead, creating a circular economy industry here that will improve economic and environmental outcomes and establishing the Gold Coast as the leading local government area in sustainability."
As well as an organics processing facility, the ARRC project plan includes:
- a new recycling facility
- a residual waste to energy facility to generate electricity from waste that cannot be recycled
- an Innovation Park to attract new recycling and remanufacturing businesses
- a community education centre to provide resources and initiatives to boost community-led waste avoidance and recycling.
Feasibility planning on the other facilities is ongoing. If all facilities are approved, it's expected they will all be operational by the end of 2032.
About Phoenix Power Recyclers
- The City, through the Advanced Resource Recovery Centre project, is purchasing Phoenix Power Recyclers operation in Yatala.
- The facility produces more than 20,000 m3 of compost each year.
- The compost is used to produce landscaping soils, soil conditioners and other material for agricultural and horticultural use.
- Phoenix Power Recyclers will continue to operate the ARRC Organics facility. They are accredited to the highest Australian standards and are the holder of the Environmental Authority (EA), the Qld Government-issued environmental licence to operate.
- The facility processes liquid and solid organic waste using advanced composting technology.
- Processing takes place in negative pressure vessels to prevent the release of odour.
