John Laing says work starts on waste-to-energy plant in W.A.

John Laing Group (“John Laing”), the international active investor and partner behind responsible infrastructure is delighted to announce the start of construction at the East Rockingham Waste-to-Energy (“WTE”) plant in Western Australia.

The project kicked off with a virtual opening on Saturday May 30th replacing a traditional onsite ground breaking ceremony, currently impossible with COVID-19 restrictions.  The opening, which is being supported by the West Australian Newspaper, incorporates editorials, print adverts, on-line editorials as well as a social media campaign to raise awareness and will run for three weeks.

The second of two WTE plants in the state, it is a critical piece of infrastructure that is designed both to protect the public health of residents in the state and to provide a significant source of renewable energy.

The new plant will process up to 300,000 tonnes of residual waste from across the Perth metropolitan area, a much-needed solution to the State’s – and Perth in particular – landfill problem, which is at risk of contaminating drinking water.

“Every tonne processed at East Rockingham will reduce the State’s carbon dioxide emissions by one tonne,” said Jason Pugh, John Laing Project General Manager. “That’s the equivalent of taking 64,000 cars off the road every year once that plant is working at full capacity. The energy generated will be baseload renewable energy, providing stability to the power network whilst delivering renewable energy benefits.”

A new website has been launched for the plant: https://erwte.com.au/, designed to keep local communities up to date with construction and progress, and also to explain the technology and benefits of converting waste into energy, something we are likely to see much more of as a direct action to combatting the climate crisis.