Wollongong Landfill Gas Upgrade Project

Wollongong Landfill Gas Upgrade Project is a landfill gas capture and combustion project located in Kembla Grange, approximately 8km south-west of the Wollongong CBD in the Illawarra region of New South Wales. Registered in March 2020, the project is situated at the Whytes Gully Waste Transfer Station (Wollongong Landfill) operations run by the local city council. The general land use in the surrounding Kembla Grange area is a mix of heavy and light industrial zones, rapidly expanding residential developments like West Dapto, and native bushland stretching toward the Illawarra Escarpment.

Landfill gas projects under this methodology generate carbon credits by capturing and combusting methane emissions caused by the decomposition of organic waste. Because this is classified as an upgrade project, it specifically focuses on improving and expanding an existing landfill gas collection system to capture a greater volume of gas from both legacy and non-legacy waste than the historical baseline scenario. The methodology determination was officially updated for this project via a variation on 21 December 2023 to Compilation No. 1.

The coastal environment around Wollongong experiences a mild oceanic climate with high annual rainfall, averaging over 1,300 mm per year. Soils across the Illawarra coastal plain typically have a high clay content and include texture-contrast soils like chromosols, which benefit from the fertility of historic volcanic activity in the region. These moist, nutrient-rich conditions naturally support the growth of subtropical and warm-temperate rainforests along the nearby escarpment.

The project proponent, LMS Energy Pty Ltd, is one of Australia's largest bioenergy and methane abatement companies, operating numerous facilities and partnering with dozens of local councils across the country. By upgrading the gas collection system at the Whytes Gully Landfill site, the project not only reduces potent greenhouse gas emissions but also aligns with broader local government strategies to manage legacy waste and achieve net-zero targets. The project holds an active Carbon Abatement Contract (CAC175258) to deliver Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) to the Commonwealth.