Jacobs Wins Contract for The Swanbank Energy-From-Waste Facility in Australia

Harnessing energy from waste is a crucial piece of the circular economy puzzle, helping create a sustainable, healthier and safer world for our communities to thrive. In Australia, REMONDIS, one of the world’s largest privately run recycling, service and water companies, is emerging as a trailblazer in the Energy-from-Waste (EfW) space with its proposed $299.6 million (AU $400 million) EfW facility in Swanbank, Queensland.

Supporting the development of the EfW facility

REMONDIS Australia recently awarded Jacobs a project development services contract to support the design and environmental aspects of this EfW facility. Our scope of services includes preparing the Environmental Impact Statement to support the community consultation process, delivering waste supply strategic technical advisory services, engineering pre-feasibility assessment, front-end engineering design, and Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) support, including preparing technical specifications and managing an EPC tendering process for the facility’s construction.

“The Swanbank site and proposal offers many clear advantages and Jacobs is excited to be playing a key role in delivering the facility,” says Jacobs Asia Pacific Technical Director for Energy-from-Waste Projects David Harridge, “We will be focused on working closely with REMONDIS to develop a design modeled on world’s best practice by bringing to bear the extensive international Energy-from-Waste experience of our organizations.”

Based in Brisbane, Australia, we will have a team of over 40 specialists working alongside REMONDIS’ locally based management team. Our team in the U.K. will also provide specialist waste strategic advisory and engineering support.

The project is expected to begin in 2022 and reach completion by 2025.

Harnessing energy from waste to power 50,000 homes in Queensland

The proposed EfW facility will be part of REMONDIS’ planned $524 million (AU $700 million) Clean Energy & Resource Recovery Precinct in Swanbank.Once the EfW facility is operational, it will divert up to 500,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste annually to generate approximately 50 megawatts of cleaner baseload energy per year, enough to power 50,000 homes in Queensland each year.

“The project enables the recovery of valuable energy and other useful materials from residual waste that would otherwise be disposed of at landfill. Through waste disposal with significantly less environmental impact than the existing landfill, the community impact relative to ‘business as usual’ practices of waste management in Ipswich will be a positive one,” says Jacobs Project Manager Andrew Rasmussen, highlighting the impact of the project on the community.

“Reduction in current odor and dust impacts from landfill operations will provide tangible environmental benefits. A fully enclosed process will mean there is robust containment of emissions to water and land. By employing European best practice techniques, emissions to air will be minimal and fully compliant with stringent limits for pollutant emissions and ambient air quality.”

The REMONDIS EfW project will also have a significant economic benefit for the region, creating more than 200 jobs during construction and up to 70 permanent jobs once in operation.