Hawkesbury Landfill Gas Upgrade Project

The Hawkesbury Landfill Gas Upgrade Project is a landfill gas capture operation located at the Hawkesbury City Waste Management Facility in South Windsor, New South Wales. The site sits approximately 55 kilometres northwest of the Sydney CBD and 5 kilometres southwest of the historic town of Windsor. Registered in March 2022, this project represents an upgrade to an existing gas collection system managed by LGI Limited. The facility serves the Hawkesbury region, an area characterized by a mix of peri-urban development, industrial zones, and significant agricultural land use, particularly turf farming and grazing on the fertile floodplains of the Hawkesbury-Nepean River.

Landfill gas projects operate by capturing methane, a potent greenhouse gas generated by decomposing organic waste, and combusting it to convert it into less harmful carbon dioxide. This specific project operates under the 2015 Landfill Gas Methodology (Upgrade), which credits the additional abatement achieved by improving the efficiency of gas capture systems. The project captures gas from both "legacy" waste (deposited before July 2012) and "non-legacy" waste. While LGI Limited often installs power generation units, public reports for this specific site highlight a "bespoke" biogas management system and a high-efficiency flare that abates emissions equivalent to removing nearly 6,000 cars from the road annually.

The South Windsor region experiences a warm temperate climate with a mean annual rainfall of approximately 700–900mm, often subject to variability and flood events due to its location in the Sydney Basin. The local terrain is largely defined by the Hawkesbury-Nepean floodplain, featuring alluvial soils (Dermosols and Rudosols) that are deep and loamy near the river, transitioning to texture-contrast soils (Chromosols) on slightly more elevated or older landscapes. These environmental factors are critical for landfill management, particularly regarding drainage and leachate control in a riverine environment.