Engaging with the Communities we serve

Veolia Environmental Services is committed to thorough community and stakeholder engagement throughout all aspects of our operations.

In 2010 alone, Veolia Environmental Services in partnership with it's sister companies contributed over $3.3 million to local communities and charities. The support offered to the communities within which we operate extends beyond just financial support.

Veolia is an active contributor to the economic viability of many local communities through the provision of employment opportunities. Veolia Environmental Services employs over 3000 staff nationally and through this in turn supports many local families.

Working with the local Community in Woodlawn.

Since its inception in 2005, the Woodlawn bioreactor and greater eco-precinct has been a testament to successfully working with the local community to deliver a collaborative approach which benefits the interests of the community, the environment and industry.

What is the Woodlawn bioreactor and greater eco-precinct?

Woodlawn Eco-precinct is located 250kms south of Sydney, near Goulburn in New South Wales. Previously a copper, lead and zinc open-cut mine, the void is now used as an in-situ bioreactor and the surrounding area is fast becoming one of Australia’s largest eco-precincts.

The Woodlawn Eco-Precinct is comprised of four key elements:

Woodlawn Bioreactor
Woodlawn Alternative Sorting and Processing (WASP) facility
Woodlawn Aquaculture facility
The Woodlawn Education Centre

Woodlawn offers a significant alternative for the resource recovery and disposal of putrescible waste in New South Wales by utilising proven technologies that are used by our Veolia counterparts around the world. The bioreactor facility extracts green electricity from what would otherwise be waste material.

The WASP facility will be designed to extract reusable materials and produces compost for onsite mine rehabilitation, with the objective of returning the degradable land back into productive land.

Understanding the state of waste management in NSW

In October 2008, the NSW Government through the Department of Planning commissioned Wright Corporate Strategy to provide independent advice on future waste infrastructure needs based on an analysis current and future landfill capacity and demand.

The Report indicated that Sydney’s current waste infrastructure could not sustain the rate of waste generation. The report also demonstrated that there is some 40 million tonnes of theoretically available landfill capacity to serve the Sydney basin, including 32 million tonnes at Woodlawn. At a rate of 2 million tonnes, this implies 20 years of theoretical capacity.

Woodlawn Eco-precinct and bioreactor is therefore set to play an integral part in providing a long term solution for managing NSW’s waste.

As the Woodlawn bioreactor currently accepts around 40% of Sydney’s putrescible waste, it has become a project that Veolia and the greater waste management market sees as a primary example of best practice waste technology. Since opening in 2005, over 2.2 million tonnes of waste has been accepted and used to generate green energy.

Expanding the Woodlawn Eco-precinct

Veolia is seeking approval from the NSW Government to increase the maximum assessed input rate of the Woodlawn Bioreactor from 500,000 tonnes of waste per year to 1.13 million tonnes of waste per year. The site is approximately 40 kilometres southwest of Goulburn NSW, near the town of Tarago NSW.

To service the increased amounts at the Bioreactor, Veolia is also seeking approval to increase the amounts that can pass through the Crisps Creek Intermodal Facility (IMF).

Additionally, Veolia is seeking approval for the installation of additional lighting at the Bioreactor site, an increase in the Bioreactor and IMF hours of operation, and an increase in the number of truck movements to transport waste from the IMF and regional centres, and a consolidated project approval.

Want to know more? Read our Q & A document here.

View the Media Release here

Listening to the community

Through engaging with all our key stakeholders, Veolia aims to actively respond to the needs of the local community and work with them as part of our collective solution. We intend to fulfil this engagement by:

Providing stakeholders with factual and balanced information to assist them to understand the proposal and its impacts and its benefits
Encourage stakeholders to have their say and provide feedback
Work toward clear understanding of issues or concerns raised by stakeholders
Liaise directly with stakeholders to address issues or concerns

Veolia Mulwaree Trust

The Veolia Mulwaree Trust provides funding for charitable purposes and worthwhile community projects to benefit communities within or surrounding the former Mulwaree Shire Council area. Since 2005 the Veolia Mulwaree Trust has distributed more than $4million to local community initiatives.