The disused DiCOM waste processing plant at the West Metro Recycling Centre can now be deconstructed and the site rehabilitated.
The West Metropolitan Regional Council (WMRC) and DiCOM have reached an agreement regarding the future of the plant, which is currently located at the WMRC’s Shenton Park site.
Director DiCOM AWT Operations Pty Ltd Mr Damien Flugge said the facility has been in a care and maintenance program since 2016.
Plans for the waste processing were first agreed in 2007 with the construction of a trial plant. This was expanded to a full-scale system in 2010 with the intent to process up to 55,000 tonnes of household waste per annum. The plant was to sort waste to separate recyclables and then break down the organic components to produce market-quality compost and biogas. The generated biogas was to power the plant with surplus exported to the grid as renewable energy.
The project encountered difficulties during the commissioning phases of the project. Disputes arose between the owners of the plant and WMRC around contractual obligations between the parties. Ultimately it was necessary for the Supreme Court to make declarations about the plant. Consequently, the WMRC was not required to make payments to the owners of DiCOM for the processing of waste that was not able to occur.
The Chair of the WMRC Cr Paul Kelly said the agreement with DiCOM is a major step in resolving a very long-standing issue.
“We have certainty on the steps forward and can now work to modernise our waste transfer operations at the Shenton Park facility for the benefit of our member councils and their residents.”
Cr Kelly said the WMRC provides services to eleven local governments in addition to commercial and other customers.
“With over 5,000 transactions at the Shenton Park site per month, we are seeing unprecedented volumes of waste received and processed.”
WMRC Chief Executive Officer Mr Stuart Devenish said planning can now get underway to improve operations across the site.
“Once the DiCOM plant is removed, we will have much-needed additional space to improve the way waste is received, aggregated, compacted and transferred. We anticipate this will mean quicker turn-around times for business, better access for residents, increased capacity for existing and new waste streams along with overall functional improvements.
“Our focus is on working constructively with DiCOM to close-out their deconstruction and site rehabilitation works so that we can deliver better outcomes for member councils and our customers.”
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