A $600 million plan to burn trash for electricity is coming to Latrobe Valley. What is waste-to-energy and are there risks?

A new industry is emerging around the country that promises to prevent the roughly 20 million tonnes of excess waste that is buried in landfill every year.

It’s called waste-to-energy.

And while champions of the burgeoning enterprise say it will stop thousands of tonnes of rubbish from being buried underground, others have said it sidesteps better solutions, like recycling waste into new products – or not creating the waste in the first place.

What happened: In early May, the Victorian government held public hearings into the development of waste-to-energy industries across the state. Local community groups were invited to speak, and over two days residents and organisations from across Victoria gave their two cents on the issue.

One of the facilities discussed is the estimated $600 million Maryvale Energy from Waste project, which will be located at Opal Australian Paper’s Maryvale Mill. 

The operation was first announced in October 2020 and Maryvale Energy-from-Waste Project, the company behind the project, claims the facility will be able to process 325,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste each year.

The Monitor spoke to the Chair of Circular Economy at the University of Melbourne, Professor Damien Giurco, about the pros and cons of waste-to-energy facilities and how they work.

One person’s trash is another’s electricity

Waste-to-energy facilities work by transporting household, commercial and industrial waste to a facility where it is then incinerated. The steam that emerges from this incineration then turns a turbine that generates electricity.

Giurco said although this process is one option to avoid filling up landfills, ideally solutions would start with avoiding waste creation in the first place.

“If the landfills are filling up, then energy from waste [can be an option], but it’s best to avoid waste generation in the first place”, said Giurco. “That's the cheapest and most effective option.”

What do locals think?

Gippsland Trades and Labour Council has spoken in favour of the development, saying it represents “a unique opportunity to deliver jobs, at a time when new employment opportunities are urgently needed.”

• Elsewhere, Latrobe City Council has welcomed the development of the facility.

However, Friends of Latrobe Water and the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) have raised concerns about the impacts on the surrounding community.

In its submission, GAIA said waste-to-energy “generates toxic emissions, and locks communities into decades of dependence on waste flows—undermining recycling, organics diversion, and broader climate goals”.

An industry reliant on waste

Another concern raised by Giurco is that building an industry that requires thousands of tonnes of waste to turn a profit could create a reliance on rubbish.

“A lot of the contracting for energy from waste is around getting tonnages in the front door that will keep the whole machine operating,” Giurco said.

“It could mean, for example, that a council sending most of its rubbish to waste-to-energy might be less inclined to actively pursue waste reduction efforts in the community.”