Bathurst Waste Management Centre Landfill Gas Upgrade Project

Bathurst Waste Management Centre Landfill Gas Upgrade Project is a landfill gas capture project located at the Bathurst Waste Management Centre, situated on the slopes of the famous Mount Panorama, approximately 5km south-west of the Bathurst CBD in New South Wales. Registered in October 2023, the project focuses on the facility's waste footprint rather than a broad land area. The surrounding Central Tablelands region is characterized by a mix of agricultural land use, primarily grazing and pine plantations, and the recreational precincts associated with the Mount Panorama motor racing circuit.

The project operates under the Landfill Gas methodology, which involves the installation of gas collection wells and piping systems to capture biogas (methane) produced by the anaerobic decomposition of organic waste. Instead of allowing this potent greenhouse gas to vent into the atmosphere, it is captured and combusted (flared). This process converts the methane into carbon dioxide, which has a significantly lower global warming potential. This specific project is an "upgrade" activity, where the proponent, Bathurst Regional Council, partnered with LGI Limited to drill 38 new gas wells and install a new flaring unit to improve the efficiency of an existing system.

Environmentally, the Bathurst region experiences a temperate climate with moderate rainfall, averaging approximately 640mm annually. The local soil composition is largely derived from "Bathurst Granites," typically presenting as sandy clay loams or heavy clays, contrasting with the basaltic soils found further east.

A notable feature of this project is its partnership model; while the Council retains the Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) to meet its emission targets (25% reduction by 2025), LGI Limited designed and funded the system installation. In its first year of operation (Phase 1), the upgraded system captured over 2.4 million cubic meters of biogas, abating approximately 23,000 tonnes of CO2e. While currently a flaring project, the Council and LGI are investigating the feasibility of using the captured gas for renewable electricity generation in future phases.