Town Planning Report - Other Change Composting Facility · 132005.638.06

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       •    ERA 62 Resource recovery and transfer facility operation:
               o 1 operating a facility for receiving and sorting, dismantling, baling or temporarily
                   storing 1(b) general waste;
               o 1 operating a facility for receiving and sorting, dismantling, baling or temporarily
                   storing 1(c) category 2 regulated waste; and
               o 2 operating a facility for receiving and sorting, baling or temporarily storing end-
                   of-life tyres only; and
       •    ERA 54 - Mechanical waste reprocessing 2: Operating a facility for receiving and
            mechanically reprocessing, in a year, the following quantity of general waste - (c) more
            than 10,000t.

       The approval for shredding and mulching green waste on site is covered by mechanical waste
       reprocessing (ERA54), which includes use of a grinder, crusher, miller, trommel or green waste
       shredder. The quantity stipulated in the EA is more than 10,000 tonnes, which is suitable for
       the green waste quantity to be processed.

       Composting is covered under ERA53, organic material processing, pursuant to Schedule 2 of
       the Environmental Protection Regulation 2019. An ERA53 includes composting of more than
       200 tonnes of organic material to manufacture soil conditioner, where organic material
       includes green waste. Adding composting to the existing operation at the NRRC is a
       concurrence ERA, which will require an amendment to the existing EA in accordance with s115
       (2) of the Environmental Protection Act 1994.

       An ERA53 is not a devolved ERA, therefore the development application is required to be
       referred to the State Assessment Referral Agency (SARA). It is expected that SARA will consider
       the proposed development and the technical reports provided at the referral stage and impose
       conditions with respect to the ERA53. Once the land use is approved, the applicant will make
       a subsequent application to amend the current EA. This is provided funding is available for the
       proposed composting facility. The EA will be amended before this component of the use
       commences.

       Collected leachate is returned to the process wherever it can be usefully absorbed, which
       recovers moisture and nutrients that would otherwise be lost and reduces the volume
       requiring separate management. Where leachate volumes exceed what can be usefully
       returned to the process, during high moisture ramp-up periods or where wetter feedstock
       streams are introduced, the surplus requires a dedicated storage and treatment pathway 4.

       It is noted that the NRRC currently contains a dedicated leachate holding tank as shown on
       the Master Plan (refer Figure 2). Further, the site is connected to reticulated sewerage, which
       provides a connection for the existing trade waste disposal associated with the current
       operation. The design provides for leachate tunnels that are enclosed. A new leachate holding
       tank forms part of the proposed development where there is excess leachate that is not able
       to be returned to the process. A sucker truck is also to be used to remove excess leachate from
       the tunnels.


       4 Process Design Strategy, part 2.3, page 11




       23026 – Noosa Resource Recovery Centre (NRRC) – Composting Facility             Page 15