Canning sends first waste to the Kwinana Energy Recovery facility

From December 2024, the City of Canning will be one of the first Local Governments in Australia to send non-recyclable waste to a processing facility that will convert waste into energy and recover materials.

Waste collected from residents, local businesses and the City’s operations will be transported for processing at the newly commissioned, Kwinana Energy Recovery (KER).

The Kwinana Energy Recovery facility is expected to divert up to 460,000 tonnes of waste from landfills each year and generate more than 38 megawatts of electricity, which is enough to produce electricity equal to the demand of around 55,000 homes.

It will also help reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, which is estimated to be the equivalent of taking 85,000 cars off Perth’s roads.

Mayor Patrick Hall said the KER facility is a positive step forward for the City of Canning and for the State of Western Australia.

“Energy recovery from waste is an important step within the waste hierarchy. The KER facility presents a fantastic opportunity for the City to reduce is impact from landfilling and further promote a circular economy.

“The City of Canning has been on long journey to see this project come to fruition, and I am excited to announce that we will be one of the first Local Governments in Australia to harness this technology, most commonly used across Europe and other parts of the world”.

“I would also like to continue to encourage residents to sell, gift, or donate unwanted items that are in good condition and to continue home composting of organic waste.”

“The goal should always be to reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible before it ends up in the general waste bin. Good waste sorting is an indispensable step before Energy Recovery,” said Mayor Hall.

The KER facility uses a process in where waste is thermally treated to create heat. The heat energy produced is converted to steam, which in turn powers a turbine to generate electricity for to generate electricity which is exported into the South West Interconnected System (SWIS).

Further enhancing the circular economy, the remnant bottom ash produced during the process is treated and repurposed to create building blocks and road subbase. Additionally, the residual metals from the process are removed and reused in downstream recycling.

Through the treatment of waste through the KER facility, the City of Canning and other local governments across Western Australia will have the highest landfill diversion rates in Australia.