Copping Landfill Gas Project

The Copping Landfill Gas Project is a waste management and energy generation project located at the Copping Refuse Disposal Site, approximately 35 kilometers east of Hobart and 20 kilometers east of Sorell in southeast Tasmania. Registered in December 2013, the project operates within the regional Copping Waste Precinct. The facility is owned by Southern Waste Solutions (a joint authority of four local councils), while the carbon project itself is operated by LMS Energy.

This project operates under the Electricity Generation from Landfill Gas methodology. This involves an engineered system of wells and pipes that actively extract methane-rich gas generated by the anaerobic decomposition of organic waste. Instead of venting this harmful greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, the methane is captured and combusted in a generator to produce renewable electricity. This process converts the methane into carbon dioxide, which has a significantly lower global warming potential, and displaces fossil-fuel-based energy from the grid.

The region surrounding Copping consists largely of dry sclerophyll forest and agricultural land used primarily for grazing. The climate is cool temperate with moderate, generally reliable rainfall, typical of southeast Tasmania. The site's geology is characterized by clay and dolerite-derived soils, which are conducive to the engineering requirements of modern landfill cells, including the site's specialized containment cells.

A notable feature of this facility is that it hosts Tasmania's only "C-Cell," a high-level hazardous waste disposal cell capable of accepting Category B pollutants. The landfill gas project helps power approximately 1,000 homes annually. The project has successfully completed its Carbon Abatement Contract (CAC164941) with the Australian Government, marking a significant contribution to the state's emissions reduction targets.