Barwon Water - Golden Plains Shire SSOW

Barwon Water - Golden Plains Shire SSOW is a source separated organic waste project located in the Golden Plains Shire, which sits just northwest of the major regional city of Geelong in Victoria. It was registered in April 2025. Because it is an aggregated waste management project rather than a land-based carbon farming initiative, it operates without a traditional designated project area size.

Source separated organic waste methodology projects involve diverting eligible organic materials away from landfills, where they would otherwise anaerobically decompose and release harmful methane. Instead, standard requirements dictate that waste is separated at the point of generation and transferred to a facility for alternative treatments. This project specifically treats the waste using enclosed composting and anaerobic digestion, captures biogas for destruction or process engineered fuel manufacture, and also features an activity where reusable items are diverted to registered charities for charitable purposes.

The Golden Plains Shire region is predominantly known for agricultural land uses, including livestock grazing and broadacre cropping. The environment is characterised by a moderate climate with rainfall generally ranging between 400mm and 600mm annually. Soils in the region are primarily duplex soils featuring heavy grey-brown clay subsoils, as well as sodosols and basalts.

This project operates in conjunction with the broader Regional Renewable Organics Network (RRON), a major partnership between Barwon Water and several local councils aimed at turning food and garden organics into renewable energy and agricultural carbon products. A recent bin audit conducted in the Golden Plains Shire found that around 41% of general household waste consisted of food and garden organics, highlighting the strong need and massive emissions reduction potential of this diversion scheme.