Woodlawn Bioreactor Project

Woodlawn Bioreactor Project is a Landfill gas project located near the town of Tarago in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, approximately 50km north of Canberra. It was registered in May 2013 and is situated within Veolia's 6,000-hectare Woodlawn Eco-Precinct. The surrounding regional area is heavily utilised for livestock grazing, wool production, and various agricultural crops. Located in a temperate climate zone, the region experiences moderate, year-round rainfall. The local soils typically consist of tableland podzols, lithosols, and variable clays, though the project itself is uniquely situated within the rocky void of a former open-cut copper, lead, and zinc mine.

Landfill gas projects involve the capture and combustion of methane generated by decomposing organic municipal solid waste. The standard requirements for these projects mandate the installation of active extraction systems, such as vertical wells and horizontal trenches, to pull the biogas from the waste mass and safely combust it via flares or internal combustion engines. This process destroys the methane, which is a highly potent greenhouse gas, and frequently converts it into green electricity for the grid.

This specific project transitioned from a revoked Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) method and continues to capture and combust gas generated from both legacy and non-legacy waste. It successfully completed its carbon abatement contract (CAC254087) in August 2022, delivering 282,857 tonnes of abatement to the Commonwealth. The broader Woodlawn site is a major infrastructure asset for New South Wales, accepting up to 20% of Sydney's putrescible waste, which is transported 250km directly to the site via rail. Beyond the bioreactor, Veolia leverages the site's energy outputs for innovative sustainability initiatives, including an on-site aquaculture facility that uses waste heat from the generators to sustainably farm 3,600 kg of fish annually for the Canberra restaurant market.