Port Stephens Waste Management Composting Facility

Port Stephens Waste Management Composting Facility is an Alternative Waste Treatment project located near Raymond Terrace, roughly 26km north of Newcastle in the Hunter region of NSW. It was registered in June 2013 and covers an unknown area.

Alternative Waste Treatment projects involve diverting mixed solid waste that would typically be sent to a landfill and instead processing it at a specialized facility. Under the methodology standard requirements, the waste must be processed aerobically, often through enclosed composting technology. This prevents the release of methane gas that would otherwise occur if the organic waste decayed anaerobically in a standard landfill.

The Raymond Terrace area is known for rural services, agriculture, forestry, and coastal tourism. The area is considered high rainfall, averaging approximately 1,146mm per year, and soils generally consist of sandy loams and alluvial clays, with sodic and acid sulfate soils commonly found in the floodplains.

An interesting note about this project is that it transitioned from an earlier revoked Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) method. The facility is currently operated by Veolia Recycling & Recovery ANZ following its acquisition of SITA. The project secured an Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) contract in April 2015, and as of August 2022, successfully completed its fixed delivery obligations under contract CAC702529.