Eastern Creek UR-3R Facility

Eastern Creek UR-3R Facility is an Alternative Waste Treatment project located at Eastern Creek, approximately 40km west of the Sydney CBD in New South Wales. Registered in April 2013, the exact operational footprint is not defined by a large rural land area, as it operates entirely within a dedicated commercial waste management precinct. Historically, the surrounding Cumberland Plain was utilised for agricultural grazing, but the region is now strongly characterised by dense urban residential development and heavy industrial use. The local environment typically experiences moderate coastal rainfall (around 700-800mm annually) and features heavy clay soils derived from the underlying Wianamatta shale.

Alternative Waste Treatment projects generate carbon credits by diverting eligible mixed solid waste away from traditional landfills, thereby preventing the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, that would otherwise occur as organic matter decomposes in the ground. To meet standard methodology requirements, these projects must accurately weigh, record, and quantify the exact volume of eligible municipal solid waste diverted and successfully processed at their specialised facility.

This particular project diverts household municipal waste to the Eastern Creek UR-3R (Urban Resource – Reduction, Recovery and Recycling) facility, processing it using an enclosed composting and biological digestion technology. Operated by Global Renewables Eastern Creek Pty Ltd, this $100 million facility is recognised as the largest alternative waste treatment plant in the southern hemisphere. It operates under a long-term contract to process up to 220,000 tonnes of household municipal solid waste per year, significantly boosting Western Sydney's landfill diversion rates by capturing recyclables and organic material from red-lid bins.

The carbon project successfully transitioned from an older, revoked Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) method to the updated 2015 Alternative Waste Treatment methodology. The facility also secured a Commonwealth carbon abatement contract (CAC101978) during the November 2015 auction, which has since been fully completed. In recent years, the facility was additionally granted federal funding through the Food Waste for Healthy Soils Fund to upgrade its composting hall, allowing it to consolidate and process source-separated Food and Garden Organics (FOGO) alongside its traditional mixed waste streams.