Proposed PEF Production Facility
in Silverwater

MET Waste Management Pty Ltd are in the early planning and community consultation stage for a proposed Processed Engineered Feedstock (PEF) Production Facility (the Proposal). JEP Environment & Planning have been engaged by MET Waste Management to assist in their planning and development application approval process. 

The Proposal is located at MET Recycling’s existing facility at 134 Carnarvon Street, Silverwater where MET Recycling already operate a Resource Recovery Facility for the recovery of building and construction waste. 

The Proposal will involve construction of a large warehouse building and two new driveways to provide truck access through the building. Vehicles will enter via Carnarvon St, adjacent to the existing MET Recycling driveway and exit via Newton St North, opposite Beaconsfield Street. It is expected that the Proposal will generate more than 50 local jobs during the construction phase, with 30 permanent full-time roles once the project reaches operational status. 

A key objective of the Proposal is to provide a sustainable end-of-life solution for residual wastes that have no other option apart from landfill. In a European style approach, residual (red bin) waste from households and businesses will undergo advanced and automated processing with a fully enclosed building with advanced environmental control systems. Waste materials received will be decontaminated to remove hazardous waste items (e.g. batteries, gas bottles, smoke detectors, chemical containers and asbestos). Additional recoverable materials such as paper, carboard, plastics, PVC, ferrous and non-ferrous materials will be removed and sent off-site for recycling.

The high calorific material remaining will be refined, dried, shredded, baled, sampled and tested for compliance with end user requirements. The PEF will be transported to markets via road or rail for use in sustainable chemical production (e.g. methanol) or for sustainable energy generation in Australia or overseas. PEF will be placed in forty cubic foot shipping containers within the warehouse building. The PEF containers will be transported via semi-trailers (19m long). These shipping containers will be transported to Port Botany using the State road network, or transported intra or interstate via rail by delivering the shipping containers to either the Enfield or Moorebank intermodal facilities. All trucks entering and leaving the Proposal will be via a defined haul route within the Silverwater Industrial Estate onto Silverwater Rd, to avoid the generation of any new truck traffic near residents along Carnarvon St (or any other local residential streets in the area).

All trucks will travel along prescribed routes through the industrial estate and avoid the residential area along Carnarvon Street. A traffic study performed as an early investigation into the impacts of the Proposal has shown that there will be minimal impact on the road network between the Site and Silverwater Road. 

The building will be fitted with advanced air quality control technology such as air scrubbers and activated charcoal filtration systems and operate under negative pressure. This will ensure that only clean air can be released from the building, with the project target to have zero impact to air quality in the local area. An early air quality and odour study has helped with the design of the latest in air quality management systems, with modelling showing negligible odour and dust impacts. 

The building will be protected by fire sprinklers and a containment system to prevent any potentially contaminated water from leaving the building. A full rooftop solar array and internal battery energy storage system will power the facility with an aim of net zero emissions, and improvements to the site fencing and landscaping will enhance the visual amenity of the site. 

The proposal is a State Significant Development (SSD) under Clause 23(3) of Schedule 1 of the State Environmental Planning Policy (Planning Systems) 2021 as the proponent intends to seek approval for the receival and processing of more than 100,000 tonnes of waste per year.