Cairns Advanced Resource Recovery Technology (ARRT) Facility

Cairns Advanced Resource Recovery Technology (ARRT) Facility is an Alternative Waste Treatment project located in the industrial suburb of Portsmith, approximately 5km south of Cairns in Far North Queensland. It was registered in July 2013 and covers an unspecified facility area. The immediate area features industrial development, while the broader Cairns region is known for tourism, tropical rainforests, and agricultural operations such as sugarcane farming. The local environment is characterised by a high-rainfall tropical climate and coastal soils, creating a highly humid atmosphere.

Alternative Waste Treatment (AWT) projects involve diverting mixed solid waste from traditional landfills, where it would otherwise decompose anaerobically and release methane, into specialised treatment facilities. Standard requirements for this methodology involve processing the diverted municipal or commercial waste using eligible technologies, such as enclosed composting or anaerobic digestion, to actively abate greenhouse gas emissions.

Operated by Veolia, the Cairns ARRT facility originally opened in 2003 and processes up to 125,000 tonnes of residential and commercial waste annually, servicing over 150,000 residents across the Cairns, Douglas, and Mareeba local government areas. It utilises Bedminster technology to sort non-organic materials from mixed solid waste, processing the remaining organic fraction through enclosed drum composting and maturation. The resulting high-quality product, marketed as Veolia Organic Crop-ARRT Regenerate compost, is sold to local horticultural enterprises like sugarcane producers to assist with on-farm nutrient management.

Additionally, to combat the extreme weather of Far North Queensland, the facility's buildings feature distinctive, cyclone-rated curved roofing systems constructed by Spantech, designed specifically to withstand the highly corrosive and humid environment of the composting process. The project transitioned from an older legacy waste methodology to the 2015 AWT determination and successfully completed its Fixed Delivery Carbon Abatement Contract (CAC368807) with the Commonwealth in August 2022, delivering 98,648 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs).