Impressive results have come in from our food waste trial, with enough energy from waste created to power more than 190 homes.
Since becoming operational in late 2019, the WasteMaster machine at Epworth Richmond has successfully diverted 9.88 tonnes of food waste – which would have otherwise gone to landfill.
Funded by a City of Yarra and Sustainability Victoria grant, the WasteMaster machine has evaporated more than 72% of food waste, resulting in a residue that weighs only 2.7 tonnes.
Simon Mikedis, Group Sustainability Manager, explained that the residue itself was an important ingredient in creating green energy.
“This residue has a calorific/energy value of 100%, making it an extremely valuable fuel product.”
“Our food waste was sent to the Yarra Valley Water Anaerobic Digester in Wollert, north of Melbourne, and has created about 2,610 kWh of green energy resulting in enough electricity to power 191 homes for a day.”
“We are being systematic and committed in our approach to environmental sustainability, and this is showing results.”
Acknowledging that our operations impact the environment, our group executive endorsed an Epworth Environment Policy last year, which outlined a framework to manage our direct and indirect environmental impacts and committed to the wise stewardship of resources.
27 May 2020