Food waste to power Scenic Rim Agricultural Industrial Precinct


One of Australia’s most productive agricultural areas is set to be home to a new food manufacturing and distribution hub featuring a renewable energy facility that will convert food and agricultural waste into green power, green gas and a bio-fertiliser.

The Scenic Rim Agricultural Industrial Precinct (SRAIP) is a step closer after the Co-ordinator-General recommended it proceed, subject to conditions.

Expanding the operations of Queensland-owned vegetable farming and marketing company Kalfresh, the precinct would unlock new market opportunities for local farmers and create new employment opportunities in the Scenic Rim local government area.

Circular economy aspects of the project include the redirection of waste from landfill to create electricity and fertiliser and the reuse of treated industrial wastewater for industrial and agricultural purposes.

Kalfresh anticipate the facility would generate the project’s full power needs, with residual power fed back into the local electricity grid.

Representing an investment of $291 million, the precinct will create 641 direct jobs over the 10-year construction period and an additional 475 direct jobs annually during operation.

It’s an ambitious project that aims to create an integrated agri-industrial hub in the Scenic Rim region of Queensland and benefit local farmers, according to Grace Grace, Minister for State Development and Infrastructure.

“A unique feature of the project is the inclusion of a facility which converts organic agricultural waste into renewable energy,” Grace said.

“The proposed facility would also provide a new source of fertiliser for the local farming community to use in crop production adding value to what would normally end up as waste.”

Initial stages of the development involve the construction of two vegetable processing facilities, an anaerobic digestion facility, roads and utility installation and connections. Following this, a composting facility would be developed producing up to 50,000 tonnes per annum of compost.

Once fully developed, there is an estimated contribution of more than $140 million to the Scenic Rim economy per year in gross value added.

“Food waste is an enormous environmental and economic issue that demands urgent solutions. Each year, an astonishing one billion tonnes of food is wasted globally – enough to feed 1.2 billion people,” said Scenic Rim Mayor, Cr Tom Sharp.

“All that wasted food is responsible for a staggering eight per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions.

“As the world grapples with these mounting challenges of food waste and the need for sustainable energy sources, innovative solutions are emerging and right here in the Scenic Rim we are doing our bit as global citizens.”

Kalfresh Chief Executive Officer Richard Gorman said the Scenic Rim Agricultural Industrial Precinct (SRAIP) includes many firsts, in particular establishing a renewable energy facility that will convert food and agricultural waste into green power, green gas and a bio-fertiliser.

“The Precinct will provide a home for food and beverage value-adding businesses in the farming region, which means they’re more efficient and able to compete with foreign imports,” Gorman said.

“This diversification includes farmers entering the green energy industry, to produce a new renewable natural gas from food waste and plants to fuel trucks and buses and power industrial manufacturing.

“Our energy model is real and reliable, and we know it works because it’s already fuelling heavy vehicles and powering industry in Europe, the UK and the US.”

Gorman said the Scenic Rim community will be the first in Queensland to be connected to baseload green energy 24/7, that’s generated from food waste and crops grown in local paddocks.

For more information, visit: www.statements.qld.gov.au

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