Kemps Creek SAWT Advanced Resource Recovery Technology (ARRT) Facility

Kemps Creek SAWT Advanced Resource Recovery Technology (ARRT) Facility is an industrial waste diversion project located at the Kemps Creek Resource Recovery Park, approximately 40 kilometres west of the Sydney CBD in New South Wales. Registered in June 2013, the project is situated within a dedicated waste management and industrial precinct off Elizabeth Drive. While the immediate site is heavily developed for industrial use, the broader Western Sydney region has historically been characterized by semi-rural market gardens and grazing on the clay-heavy soils of the Cumberland Plain.

The project operates under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative, Alternative Waste Treatment) Methodology Determination 2015. This methodology generates carbon credits by diverting mixed solid waste (household red-bin waste) from conventional landfill. Instead of decaying anaerobically in a landfill and releasing methane, the waste is processed in an enclosed facility using Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) technology. This process separates recyclable materials like metals and plastics, while the remaining organic fraction is composted in enclosed tunnels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

A notable aspect of this project is its complex regulatory history. Originally developed by SITA (later SUEZ, now Veolia), it was a flagship facility for processing Sydney's municipal waste. However, in late 22018, the NSW EPA revoked exemptions allowing "Mixed Waste Organic Outputs" (MWOO), the compost produced by such facilities, to be applied to agricultural land due to contamination concerns. Despite these sector-wide challenges, the project successfully completed its carbon abatement contract (CAC369871) in December 2021, delivering over 285,000 ACCUs to the Commonwealth.