Downer leading in resource recovery

09/01/2022

The Glenorchy city council in southern Tasmania is aiming to be a leader in resource recovery and we’re proud to be helping them on their journey.

Downer will build a new landfill cell at the Jackson Street Waste Management Centre and work is well underway.

Building a landfill cell is done in steps and there’s a lot of preparation needed to make sure the cell is robust and complies with Environment Protection Authority requirements.

One of the most important things is to ensure that contaminated water from domestic waste can’t find its way into the water table. To make sure it doesn’t, there are a lot of layers put in place before the cell becomes operational.

The base of the landfill cell is lined with clay, which is then compacted. On top of that sits GCL – a woven clay product that swells when moisture gets into it, effectively creating a seal. There’s an engineered plastic liner on top of that, a cushioning layer to protect the plastic, and finally a layer of fine rock that holds the drainage system that will capture any water that gets into the waste, and direct it away safely. 

We expect to be putting all of that in place during April and May. When the new cell is complete, it will extend the life of the current landfill site by ten years.