General News
3 October, 2019
C’down compost aims to reduce odour
Camperdown Compost looks set to continue to grow with a planning application to expand operations at its Blind Creek Road processing facility now before the Corangamite Shire Council and a works approval application before the Environment Protection Authority for consideration.
Camperdown Compost looks set to continue to grow with a planning application to expand operations at its Blind Creek Road processing facility now before the Corangamite Shire Council and a works approval application before the Environment Protection Authority for consideration.
A ‘drop-in’ information session has been set for Monday, October 14 at the Killara Centre in Camperdown where officers from both organisations will be in attendance.
Located about 10 kilometres west of Camperdown, the 2.3 hectare site has been used as a composting facility since the late 1990s.
The facility is currently licensed to process up to 24,000 tonnes or organic waste annually, which results in about 10,000 tonnes of finished compost which is then used for agricultural uses, landscaping and commercial composts.
According to the applications, the processing facility accepts hard green wastes, municipal green wastes, animal effluent, grease trap effluent, food and beverage processing wastes, industrial wash and inert sludges and slurries.
The planning application seeks to expand operations to 35,000 tonnes of incoming waste annually and upgrade the operations to include a concrete force aerated floor.
If approved, the site would add additional waste categories of commercial food waste, tannery and wool scouring wastes, category C soils and stormwater contaminated with oil or hydrocarbons.
Twelve windrows of waste would be located on the aerated floor and turned mechanically on a regular basis to maintain optimum temperatures for the composting process.
The aerated floor has been designed to speed up the entire composting process and reduce the amount of methane gas and carbon dioxide released, reducing odour.
A number of newly built office buildings and storage sheds are also included in the proposal along with separate storage dams for compost leachate and stormwater.
The proposal would also see the addition of a two-metre-high mesh fence covered in a green creeper and a six-metre-wide landscaping strip with trees growing between five and eight metres in height.
The estimated cost of the entire project is $2.5 million.
Camperdown Compost chief executive officer Nick Routson said the company had spent a number of years researching the best technology for the upgrade.
“We are working with Compost Systems in Austria, who have designed and built over 20 similar systems through Europe and South America,” he said.
“This is their first project in Australia.
“Sustainability Victoria has also acknowledged the importance of the facility and has contributed $500,000 towards the upgrade.”
Mr Routson said the composting area would not get any bigger.
“We’re also adding some area to the front of the site to get our trucks off the road and to allow for some vegetative screening around the site,” he said.
The planning application can be viewed at the Corangamite Shire offices in Camperdown or online at www.corangamite.vic.gov.au/Property/Planning/Statutory-Planning/View-current-planning-applications-on-notice. Submissions will be accepted until the close of business on Wednesday, October 23.
Interested people can find out more about the project and how to make a submission at the ‘drop-in’ session which will be held from 4pm until 7.30pm.