Energy from Waste in NSW
Information about energy from waste, the management of waste that cannot be recycled and the framework that applies to proposals for energy from waste facilities.
Energy from waste
Energy from waste is a process where residual waste (that cannot be recycled) is treated through a process that involves or results in energy recovery from the waste such as heat, electricity or gas/liquid fuels.
The energy from waste process produces some waste such as ash, which needs to be safely and lawfully managed.
The NSW Government is taking a strategic approach to the role of energy from waste to increase the resilience of our residual waste infrastructure and support our transition to a circular economy.
We are creating new options to manage NSW’s waste that cannot be recycled (residual waste) to reduce our reliance on landfills and make our waste management system more robust.
This will help NSW keep essential waste management services functioning if access to a landfill is cut off during emergencies such as fires or floods, or if natural disasters generate extra waste.
The thermal treatment of waste to recover energy is one option used around the world to reduce the volume of waste going to landfill. It can safely manage residual waste in a more useful way than disposing of it in landfill, producing energy in the form of heat, electricity or fuel that can be used to power a range of activities.
Energy from waste can also be an important step in resource recovery processes, such as in the production of biochar or biofuels from organic waste. Like landfill, it should only be used when there are no other higher-order waste management options available, such as reuse or recycling.
Energy from Waste Framework
The NSW Government has a best-practice framework to guide the development of energy from waste proposals in NSW. This framework ensures energy from waste facilities meet strict performance standards and are in areas that best address the State’s waste management needs.
The framework was updated following public consultation in 2025. Read the about the consultation.
In April 2025, the Chief Scientist and Engineer wrote to NSW Minister for Environment Penny Sharpe on energy from waste (PDF 530KB), to provide advice on emissions from energy from waste facilities.
This advice confirmed that emission limits in NSW are among the most stringent when compared to other jurisdictions. The Chief Scientist and Engineer suggested the regulation could be amended following consultation, to add some flexibility to the current settings – with technical and operational practicability and costs to industry in mind.
One of the community’s biggest concerns about energy from waste is potential risks from pollutants in air emissions.
Modern energy from waste is very different to older waste incineration technology and cannot be compared. Technologies for combusting waste and controlling air emissions have significantly changed and improved as better controls and improved monitoring have been developed.
The European Union’s 2010 Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) and the 2019 Best Available Techniques Reference Document (BREF) for waste incineration set energy from waste emission limit standards that align with best available practices and technologies in Europe.
These EU standards are comparable with NSW Clean Air Regulation Group 6 air emission criteria and are the reference for the EPA’s environment protection conditions for energy from waste facilities in NSW.
The NSW Energy from Waste Framework aligns with global best practice.
The NSW Government is taking urgent action to transition NSW safely to a circular economy.
Key reforms include:
- phasing out problematic single-use plastic items
- financial incentives for manufacturers and producers to design out problematic plastics
- having government agencies prefer recycled content
- mandating the separation of food and garden organics for households and selected businesses
- incentivising biogas generation from waste materials.
Despite these actions, waste volumes in NSW are forecast to grow over the next 20 years from 21 million tonnes in 2021 to nearly 37 million tonnes by 2041. At the current rates of waste generation and recycling, Greater Sydney will run out of landfill space by 2030 for household waste and commercial and construction waste.
The NSW Government has released the first chapter of the Waste and Circular Infrastructure Plan.
We engaged with stakeholders from local government and industry who told us the planning process is difficult to navigate, and uncertainty has limited investment in new waste infrastructure.
Energy from waste is used around the world to generate energy from the thermal treatment of waste. There are a range of different approaches and technologies that thermally treat waste to produce energy.
One approach is the combustion of red lid bin waste to produce steam, which turns a turbine to generate electricity.
Other forms of energy from waste may include the heating of clean agricultural waste in a low oxygen process known as pyrolysis to produce sustainable fertilisers and fuels.
Energy from waste is part of the waste management framework in many countries to manage residual waste that would otherwise go to landfill.
There are approximately 2000 energy from waste facilities operating globally in places such as the United States, Japan and Europe.
Applications for energy from waste facilities are subject to a rigorous merit-based assessment by the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) – this includes public exhibition of the development application (DA), detailed environmental assessments and community consultation.
Energy from Waste DAs must be supported by detailed environmental impact and risk assessments, including assessments of air quality, human health and agricultural risk, noise, traffic, water and social impact, as well as a comprehensive community and stakeholder engagement strategy.
The community and stakeholder engagement strategy must report on the outcomes of consultation undertaken during preparation of the DA, how the applicant has responded to issues raised during that consultation, and what consultation will be carried out into the future.
DPHI has a comprehensive merit-based assessment process and considers feedback from key stakeholders, including the community, councils and state government agencies. DPHI works closely with the EPA and NSW Health to ensure air quality, risk to human health and agricultural risks are thoroughly considered.
If approved, an energy from waste facility in NSW is required to have an Environment Protection Licence (EPL) issued by the EPA. The EPL sets out the conditions for the facility’s operation and includes the maximum limits for air emissions from the facility that cannot be exceeded, along with continuous monitoring requirements for pollutants.
Community input is a vital part of the development assessment (DA) process. The community is invited to make a submission when the DA is placed on public exhibition, and government authorities, councils and other stakeholders are also invited to comment.
All submissions and advice received are considered by the applicant and the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI). The applicant must respond to the issues raised and DPHI considers the applicant’s response as part of its assessment.
All applicants are required to carry out a comprehensive open and transparent community consultation engagement process during the preparation of their DA. This approach recognises the importance of effective and genuine community consultation.
The Energy from Waste Framework establishes several tiers of controls depending on the type of waste being used for energy recovery and the type of process being used.
The first tier is activities that are already excluded from the energy from waste regulatory framework under s142 of the Protection of the Environment Operations (General) Regulation 2022.
- These are activities that deliver environmental benefits and are already subject to regulatory control through the planning assessment process and EPA licensing, so there are no further requirements (such as location restrictions) set under the energy from waste framework.
- This includes biological processes such as anaerobic digestion and composting, use of an ‘eligible waste fuel’, autoclaving, and the thermal treatment of plastic waste for genuine plastic recycling.
- We are also making changes to include the thermal treatment of certain agricultural waste and anaerobic digestion residues to produce beneficial end-products like biochar, biogas, biomethane, or sustainable aviation fuel.
The second tier covers activities that are excluded from the prohibition of energy from waste outside of nominated precincts.
- These are activities that deliver environmental benefits but require some additional regulatory and process controls. They already include using energy from waste to replace coal and liquid petroleum fuels in existing manufacturing facilities.
We are also making changes to include:
- the use of certain designed-to-specification fuels that are derived from non-municipal waste streams to replace gas in existing industrial and manufacturing facilities located outside of Greater Sydney&
- the thermal treatment of end-of-life tyres to produce oil, steel, carbon black and syngas
The third tier is activities that must only occur in nominated precincts. These are activities that thermally treat mixed waste streams such as municipal solid waste and therefore require additional regulatory and process controls.
The control activities must only occur in the following nominated precincts identified under s144 of the Protection of the Environment Operations (General) Regulation 2022:
- Parkes Activation Precinct
- Southern Goulburn-Mulwaree Precinct
- West Lithgow Precinct
- Tomago Precinct
We are making changes to re-gazette a map for West Lithgow to include the former Wallerawang power station site and establish a new Tomago Precinct in the industrial area of Tomago near the Resource Recovery Facilities already in the area..
Energy from Waste precincts must be:
- close to existing or planned infrastructure
- connected to existing or planned road or rail infrastructure
- compatible with environmental and climatic factors (e.g. air quality)
- create jobs
- support secure and sustainable access to energy in locations that need it
- attract investment and economic opportunities to communities who need it and
- support existing waste, net zero and regional growth strategies.
PFAS is an emerging area of study internationally, however studies to date show that a large proportion of PFAS is destroyed during thermal treatment, and that risks from PFAS in emissions are low.
The EPA will continue to require comprehensive human health and environmental risk assessments to be undertaken for PFAS using the latest information available.
We are also working with our counterparts in Australian jurisdictions to develop an agreed approach to the regulation of Incinerator Bottom Ash and Air Pollution Control Residue.