Remondis Ipswich incinerator: Waste company stepping up promotion of $400 million Swanbank facility in community

Remondis receives about 500,000 tonnes of rubbish a year, which is buried as landfill at the site where the facility is planned to be built.

Waste company Remondis’ proposed $400 million energy from waste plant is still going through the approval process.

The waste company which wants to build a $400 million incinerator in Ipswich will step up promotion of its controversial project in the community this week but detailed information on exactly how the proposed facility will impact the community has still not been released.

More than a year since the energy from waste facility was granted coordinated project status by the state government’s Coordinator-General, Remondis will ramp up community consultation from Friday.

Remondis receives about 500,000 tonnes of rubbish a year at its Swanbank site, a former coal mine, which is buried as landfill.

The energy from waste plant is planned to form part of a wider $700 million waste precinct.

The company says no more waste will be brought onto the site if the plant is built and it would serve to divert this rubbish from landfill.

The proposal has faced significant backlash from the community since plans were first announced in 2018, with Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding and the city’s four Labor state MPs all publicly stating they don’t support the project.

Residents have raised concerns about the potential impact to their health with the wider waste industry already having a “significant effect” on the city.

Remondis says it cannot release a time frame on when detailed information about the project will be released as it is following the state government’s process.

The Coordinator-General is currently preparing the terms of reference to outline the social and environmental matters Remondis must address in an environmental impact statement.

That document and submissions from the public will then be assessed by the Coordinator-General before it can give its backing and a development application will then be considered by Ipswich City Council.

Remondis’ Stefan Dittrich, Amrish Trivedi, Sarah Collins and David O’Malley.

Remondis, which operates more than 50 energy from waste facilities in 30 countries around the world, has announced several appointments to the team which will lead the detailed design and environmental impact statement process.

Project director Stefan Dittrich, technical manager David O’Malley and environmental manager Amrish Trivedi have joined project manager Sarah Collins.

Ms Collins said the incinerator is proposed to form part of a wider $700 million precinct which includes recycling facilities.

The broader precinct, if progressed, would be subjected to a separate approvals process.

“The proposed precinct would be a $700 million investment creating 200 construction and 70 permanent jobs,” she said.

“Such facilities have been embraced overseas, including in densely populated cities such as Paris, London, Copenhagen, Cologne, Zurich, Vienna, Palm Beach and Singapore.

The $400 million incinerator planned for Swanbank is going through the approvals process.

“The precinct-based approach we’re proposing at Swanbank is a technologically advanced one-stop-shop approach, meaning we can do something with pretty much every bit of waste that comes in, with a focus on recycling.

“The energy from waste facility is the clincher, because we can almost eliminate non-recyclable waste and landfill problems including odour, leachate and methane. From the safe combustion process, you can also generate a far cleaner form of electricity.”

Mr Dittrich said it was “inevitable” Australia needed to tap into what was being done overseas to find a “sustainable solution to our waste problems”.

“One is situated on the Seine River near the Eiffel Tower,” he said.

“An amazing grass ski run has been built on the top and sides of an energy from waste plant in Copenhagen.

“Two plants operate adjacent to Remondis’ headquarters in Lünen, Germany.”

A grass ski run was built on an energy from waste plant in Copenhagen.

Remondis says it has been briefing residents, politicians, businesses, community groups and schools over the past 12 months but it will now ramp this up.

This will include advertising and ‘pop-up information booths’ at various locations, with the first to be held at Riverlink Shopping Centre on Friday between 10am-1pm.

The company says it cannot confirm further dates but they will be rolled out around Ipswich over the next year.

You can call 3167 1200 or visit here for more information.

Read more stories by Lachlan McIvor here.