Forest Road Landfill Gas Project

Forest Road Landfill Gas Project is a waste sector project located at the Forest Road Waste Management Centre, approximately 5 kilometres northwest of the Tamworth CBD in New South Wales. Registered in April 2016, the project is operated by the Tamworth Regional Council. It operates under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative-Landfill Gas) Methodology Determination 2015, which was varied in late 2024 to the latest compilation to align with current legislative standards.

Landfill gas projects involve the installation of a system to capture methane generated by the anaerobic decomposition of organic waste. Instead of allowing this potent greenhouse gas to vent passively into the atmosphere, the project collects the gas and combusts it, either via a flare or an electricity generation engine. This process converts the methane into carbon dioxide, which has a significantly lower global warming potential. The Forest Road facility is the primary waste management site for the region, processing general waste and supporting resource recovery operations.

The Tamworth region is characterized by a sub-humid climate with a summer-dominant rainfall pattern, averaging approximately 670mm annually. The surrounding landscape is a major agricultural hub known for grazing (cattle and sheep) and cropping, supported by soils that typically range from red clays and loams to the fertile black earths found in the nearby Liverpool Plains.

A notable achievement for this project was the completion of its carbon abatement contract (CAC781171) in December 2024, indicating it successfully delivered its committed volume of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) to the Commonwealth. The site operates under NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) Licence 5921, which monitors environmental performance including gas emissions and leachate management.