Cessnock Landfill Gas Project

Cessnock Landfill Gas Project is a landfill gas project located at the Cessnock Waste Management Centre, just outside the town of Cessnock and approximately 50km west of Newcastle in NSW. It was registered in December 2013 by LMS Energy Pty Ltd. While the exact project area size is formally listed as unknown, it covers the operational footprint of the local landfill. The surrounding Hunter Valley region is predominantly known for viticulture, coal mining, and grazing. The area experiences moderate temperate rainfall, and local soils generally consist of clays, sandy loams, and alluvial deposits.

Landfill gas projects involve capturing and combusting methane emissions generated by decomposing organic waste in landfills. Standard requirements dictate that the gas must be captured using an active collection system and either destroyed through flaring or combusted to generate electricity, which significantly reduces the global warming potential of the emissions.

This project transitioned from a revoked Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) method following variations in 2015 and 2021, and continues to capture and combust gas generated from both legacy and non-legacy waste. The project was originally contracted in April 2015, and its Carbon Abatement Contract (CAC164941) has now been successfully completed. An interesting development for the site occurred in September 2026, when the Cessnock Waste Management Centre completed Stage 1 of a major site extension. After receiving EPA approval, a massive new engineered landfill cell began receiving loads, securing the facility's capacity to serve the local government area for another 20 years.