MRL LFG Abatement Project

MRL LFG Abatement Project is a landfill gas electricity generation project located at the Melbourne Regional Landfill (MRL) in Ravenhall, approximately 25km west of the Melbourne CBD. The project was originally registered in January 2013 under the name "Boral Deer Park Biogas Energy Project" before undergoing a name change in 2015 following the sale of the landfill operations. The site itself is a significant piece of infrastructure, widely considered to be Australia's largest landfill, receiving over 2 million tonnes of waste annually.

The project operates under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative, Electricity Generation from Landfill Gas) Methodology Determination 2021. This methodology rewards project developers for capturing methane, a potent greenhouse gas generated by decomposing organic waste, that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere. Instead of simply flaring (burning) the gas to destroy the methane, this specific project directs the captured gas into combustion engines to generate renewable electricity, which is then fed into the local grid.

The Ravenhall area sits within the Victorian Volcanic Plain, a region characterized by flat to undulating terrain with heavy basaltic clay soils. The environment here is generally drier than the eastern suburbs of Melbourne due to a rain shadow effect, typically receiving moderate annual rainfall. The land use immediately surrounding the project is heavy industrial, dominated by the massive quarry and landfill operations, though the broader region is rapidly transitioning from historical grazing land to residential and commercial development.

A notable aspect of this project is its scale and corporate history. In 2015, Boral sold its landfill business to Transpacific Industries, which later rebranded as Cleanaway. Consequently, the project proponent changed to Landfill Operations Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Cleanaway. The facility has seen significant upgrades over its life; reports from 2017 and 2020 indicate expansions to the biogas facility, increasing its capacity to generate enough electricity to power over 15,000 homes annually.