A08 – Waste to energy

Learn about the A08 – Waste to energy licences, the conditions you must comply with and how to apply.

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When you need a licence for this activity

You must get a permission from us to conduct certain activities that have risk of harm to human health and the environment. These are called prescribed activities and are defined in Schedule 1 of the Environment Protection Regulations 2021.

Waste to energy is the process of turning waste material into a usable form of energy – for example:

  • heat
  • fuel
  • electricity.

Thermal techniques use heat processes, such as combustion, pyrolysis and gasification.

Non-thermal techniques use biological or mechanical processes, such as anaerobic digestion and fermentation.

Under the Regulations, you need an A08 development licence and operating licence to recover energy from waste at or above a rated capacity of:

  • 3 megawatts (MW) of thermal capacity, or
  • one MW of electrical power.

Learn more about the Victorian Waste to Energy Framework.

Permission from other regulators or authorities

Recycling Victoria regulates the amount of thermal waste-to-energy capacity available within Victoria by cap licensing.

The Department of Transport and Planning issues planning approvals for thermal waste-to-energy facilities.

Exemptions

Under some circumstances, you can apply for a development licence exemption or an operating licence exemption.

Information to include in your application

When you submit your application in the portal, it must include certain information and supporting evidence. To learn more, visit Apply for a development licence or Apply for an operating licence.

If you're unsure of the type of permission you need, use our free permission pathway process before you start your application.

For this application you must also provide:

Details of the proposal

Provide a description of the activity design and layout, including evidence of your:

  • waste reception and sorting areas
  • energy recovery plant and equipment
  • waste management capacity
  • residual waste storage and management area
  • environmental controls.

Waste types and sources

Provide a description and evidence of:

  • the type of waste – for example, municipal solid waste, food and garden organics, commercial waste, or construction and demolition waste
  • how much waste will be dealt with per hour, day and year, and over what period of time
  • the composition of the waste, including its chemical characteristics and physical form – for example, liquid, solid or sludge
  • the contaminants of concern and their thresholds
  • whether the waste is produced from a single specific operation or multiple and variable sources
  • how the waste may vary over the operating life of the proposed landfill.

You may need to include:

  • waste audit, characterisation and lab analysis
  • waste flow assessments
  • waste acceptance protocols.

Waste to energy technology

Provide a description and evidence of the following:

  • an overview of your selected waste-to-energy technology
  • justification of why you selected this particular technology
  • a step-by-step description of how you will convert the waste into energy, including details of any pre-processing
  • technical validation showing that your selected waste-to-energy technology can treat the targeted waste types
  • any variation over time, referencing facility data, mass balances and technology readiness assessments.

Energy recovery

Provide a description and evidence of the following:

  • the type of energy recovery (heat, electricity or both)
  • efficiency of your energy recovery in terms of energy output versus waste input
  • how the energy is distributed – for example, for onsite use, neighbouring industry use or export into the grid.

Environment controls

Provide a description and evidence of the following:

  • incoming and residual waste management
  • process controls and automation
  • flue gas cleaning system, if there are emissions to air, including any proposed operating licence air emission limits
  • wastewater management, if wastewater will be generated, including how you will treat it to remove contaminants and how you will manage it – for example, reuse or discharge to sewer
  • noise controls
  • odour controls
  • fugitive air emissions controls
  • emergency management controls
  • technical validation for your selected environmental controls.

Residual wastes

Provide a description and evidence of:

  • what type/s of residual waste will be generated – for example, bottom ash, fly ash, slag, flue gas cleaning residues, digestate or recoverable materials
  • how much residual waste you estimate each waste stream will generate, based on incoming waste volumes
  • characterisation of each residual waste output stream – for example, heavy metals, dioxins or furans, or other chemicals of concern
  • what management options you propose for each residual waste stream – for example, treatment, material recovery or reuse, or disposal
  • annual projections, considering any seasonal variation.

Risk management

Provide:

Consideration of risk of harm to human health and the environment

Provide an assessment that shows your proposed activity will not lead to an unacceptable risk of harm to the environment or human health. Include:

We may ask for additional studies, depending on the circumstances of your proposal.

Approval to use incinerator bottom ash

For information about applying for an A16 permit to reuse incinerator bottom ash (IBA) or incinerator bottom ash aggregate (IBAA), visit Approval to use incinerator bottom ash.

Application fee

For a list of current fees and how they're calculated, visit Fees. An extra fee may apply if we need more time than specified in the Regulations to assess your application.

If an application fee applies, we cannot assess your application until we've received and processed this fee.

How long your licence is valid for

If we issued your operating licence before 1 July 2021, there's no expiry date. If we issued it after 1 July 2021, then your licence is valid for:

  • up to 99 years for a waste management activity at a current or former landfill site
  • up to 20 years in any other case.

The duration of a development licence depends on the activity. This is stated in a condition when we issue the licence. To extend the duration, you must apply for an amendment.

How we assess your application

Find out how we assess your application and how long it takes.

Operating licence conditions

Permission conditions outline the legal obligations for the permission holder. They set up a framework for risk management, record keeping and reporting.

Where a condition includes:

  • the word 'placeholder', values will be populated with information that's specific to your site
  • a reference to a 'figure' or 'appendix', information will be populated that's specific to your site.

'Authority' means Environment Protection Authority (EPA).

Other conditions may apply.

Condition codeDescription
OL_G01A copy of this licence must be kept at the activity site and be easily accessible to persons who are engaging in an activity conducted at the activity site. Information regarding the requirements of the licence and the Act duties must be included in site induction and training information.
OL_G02

You must immediately notify the Authority by calling 1300 EPA VIC (1300 372 842) in the event of:

a) A discharge, emission or deposit which gives rise to, or may give rise to, actual or potential harm to human health or the environment;

b) A malfunction, breakdown or failure of risk control measures at the activity site which could reasonably be expected to give rise to actual or potential harm to human health or the environment; or

c) Any breach of the licence.

OL_G03

You must notify the Authority within 48 hours of the occurrence of any the following:

(a) Any change to your name or address (including your registered address and activity site as applicable);

(b) You become, or are likely to become, an insolvent under administration;

(c) You become, or are likely to become, an externally administered company under the Corporations Act; or

(d) A change to an officer (as defined in the Act).

You must update your information in the EPA Interaction Portal if any other relevant administrative details for your business change.

OL_G04aYou must provide to the Authority with a Permission Information and Performance Statement (PIPS) in the form determined by the Authority within 2 months of receiving notification in writing from the Authority. The PIPS may be released to the public (in whole or in part).
OL_G04b

Information and monitoring records used for the preparation of, inclusion in, or support of, any reporting or notification that is required of you by the Authority (including data reporting, performance reporting, documents evidencing any risk and monitoring program) must be:

a) retained for five years; and

b) made available to the Authority on request.

OL_G05

1. You must develop a risk management and monitoring program for your activities which:

(a) identifies all the risks of harm to human health and the environment which may arise from the activities you are engaging in at your activity site;

(b) clearly defines your environmental performance objectives;

(c) clearly defines your risk control performance objectives;

(d) describes how the environmental and risk control performance objectives are being achieved;

(e) identifies and describes how you will continue to eliminate or minimise the risks in 1(a) (above) so far as reasonably practicable (SFARP); and

(f) describes how the information collated in compliance with this clause is or will be disseminated, used or otherwise considered by you or any other entity.

2. The risk management and monitoring program must be:

(a) documented in writing;

(b) signed by a duly authorised officer of the licensed entity; and

(c) made available to the Authority on request.

OL_G07

You must:

(a) develop and maintain a decommissioning plan that is in accordance with the current decommissioning guidelines published by the Authority;

(b) provide the decommissioning plan to the Authority upon request;

(c) supply to the Authority an updated detailed decommissioning plan 40 business days prior to commencement of decommissioning, if you propose to divest a section of the licensed site, cease part or all of the licensed activity or reduce the basis upon which the licence was granted to a point where licensing is no longer required; and

(d) decommission the licensed site in accordance with the detailed decommissioning plan, to the satisfaction of the Authority and within any reasonable timeframe which may be specified by the Authority.

OL_DA01Discharge of waste to air must be in accordance with Appendix 5.
OL_DA02Visible emissions to air other than steam must not be discharged from the activity site, except as permitted by this licence.
OL_WM13

Notwithstanding the discharge limits set out in this licence, the licence holder’s risk management and monitoring program must address:

(a) Causes of short-term variation in emissions (which may include equipment or process failures and replacement of components);

(b) Opportunities to reduce long term and event-driven emissions through practices or controls; and

(c) Key indicators of emission variation including process and system indicators.

OL_WM14All plant and equipment must be maintained and operated in proper working condition, in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications.

Conditions for development licences are specific for each licence.

Apply now

Apply for an A08 – Waste to energy development or operating licence in our portal.

Apply now

Manage your licence

To amend, transfer or surrender your licence, visit Manage your permission.

Guidance

We have already assessed several high-profile and large-scale waste-to-energy facilities. You can view examples of applications on Engage Victoria.

For information on best available techniques or technologies, refer to:

Other Australian jurisdictions provide useful information for when preparing your application:

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