Adelaide Brighton Cement’s plan to use household waste to fuel Birkenhead kiln raises air quality concerns

A plan to burn household waste to help power Adelaide Bright Cement has stoked new health concerns among worried locals.

Plans to burn nappies and other household garbage in Adelaide Brighton Cement’s Birkenhead kiln are yet to pass the sniff test with residents, who worry the air won’t be safe to breathe.

The company has been using construction and demolition waste in its enormous calciner, or rotary kiln, for 17 years.

It says that has significantly reduced emissions compared to powering the kiln with natural gas alone, and expects more benefits from the household waste.

But residents, who have long complained about the Birkenhead plant showering their homes and cars in dust, are not convinced.

Long-time Peterhead resident Bruce Steer, 71, said he and his neighbours now had an extra worry on top of the “heavy industrial smell” and “the fallout of dust from the factory”.

“The issue at the moment is they’re (looking at) burning a wider and wider variety of things, including apparently general waste, and although I don’t know the impacts, I’d be worried about emissions,” he said.

Port Adelaide Residents Environment Protection Group secretary Tony Bazeley, right, with fellow concerned resident Bruce Steer, left, at Birkenhead. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

Port Adelaide Residents Environment Protection Group secretary Tony Bazeley said the group was “always concerned” about air quality, especially emissions from the cement factory.

“Certainly once you talk about burning nappies and things like that, (it’s a worry),” he said.

“Adelaide’s air quality isn’t too bad … but where it does break down are these pockets around Adelaide Brighton Cement where the problem is more intense.”

Residents are being consulted on the plan through the company’s community liaison group.

The Environment Protection Authority would need to grant special approval.

A company spokesman said the “refuse-derived fuel” it currently used from construction waste was better for the environment than natural gas alone, cutting nitrous oxide emissions by 25 per cent and reducing carbon dioxide by 710,000 tonnes since 2003, with “further reductions” to come by using household waste.

“On an annual basis, the program (already) diverts about 200,000 tonnes of material away from landfill and conserves enough natural gas to power 63,000 South Australian homes,” he said.

The company monitors emissions and reports to the EPA under its licence. That was altered in 2018 to allow up to 20 per cent plastic by weight in the refuse-derived fuel. Up to 25 tonnes an hour can be burned.

The EPA said the company would need to submit “detailed air-emissions studies for specific air pollutants” for the household waste plan.

“In addition the EPA must also be satisfied with the controls in place to ensure quality assurance measures for the production and use of any new refuse-derived fuel,” it said.

The EPA’s air quality monitoring shows the Le Fevre Peninsula has the poorest results across Adelaide due to industry and Victoria Rd traffic.