The Lucas Heights Resource Recovery Park (LHRRP) is one of the largest waste management and resource recovery facilities in the Sydney metropolitan area, located in Lucas Heights, New South Wales, Australia. Also known as Lucas Heights Landfill, the facility operates as a waste disposal and resource recovery centre, providing public drop-off services for a range of recyclable materials, including paper and cardboard, steel and scrap metal, used oil, and vehicle batteries.
The site also incorporates the Lucas Heights Organic Resource Recovery Facility, which receives and processes organic waste for conversion into compost and other recycled organic products. The facility is licensed to receive up to 550,000 tonnes of putrescible and non-putrescible solid waste annually. Owned and operated by Cleanaway, the facility accepts household waste, construction and demolition waste, commercial waste and industrial waste. As Sydney's only remaining putrescible landfill, the facility receives household, commercial and industrial waste from numerous local councils, including Fairfield, Liverpool and Blacktown City Councils, all of which use Cleanaway as their waste collection contractor.
History The site formerly contained two principal landfill areas: one operated by Sutherland Shire Council from 1965 to 1976, and a second operated by the Metropolitan Waste Disposal Authority (later Waste Service NSW) from 1976 until 1987. In 1985, Waste Service NSW received approval to fill up the gorge with both putrescible and non-putrescible waste in order to create a revised landform profile. The 1985 approval permitted filling to a maximum elevation of 162 metres (531 ft) AHD. The facility was established in 1987 following the closure of the former Lucas Heights landfill. By the mid-1990s, the southern area of the facility had reached this level, with landfill operations progressively advancing northwards across the remainder of the site. By June 1996, the remaining approved landfill capacity was estimated at 9.12 million tonnes. By 1998, more than 75 per cent of the site had been disturbed by waste-disposal activities, cover-material extraction, site infrastructure and road construction. By that time, approximately 30 hectares (74 acres) of previously disturbed land had undergone partial rehabilitation through the establishment of cover crops, mulching and the planting of native trees. An area to the west of the dumpsite was purged and used as a borrow area to supply soil and other cover materials for landfill operations.
Site investigations undertaken in 1995 confirmed that the landfill contained both putrescible and non-putrescible waste, with waste deposits reaching depths of up to 6 metres (19.7 ft). From 1998, Waste Service NSW held a permissive occupancy arrangement over much of the area, along with the borrow zone, with the former Department of Land and Water Conservation. As part of this arrangement, Waste Service NSW was responsible for rehabilitating the area in accordance with regulatory requirements, including the ongoing operation and maintenance of landfill leachate and landfill gas collection and management systems. Waste Service NSW subsequently contracted Energy Developments to gather landfill gas from much of the site. The recovered gas was used to generate electricity, which was supplied to the local power grid. The agreement with EDL was expected to continue until approximately 2025, or before marketable gas extraction was no longer economically viable.
Geography
The site is one of the largest waste management facilities in the Sydney region, alongside facilities such as the Eastern Creek landfill and the Woodlawn Eco Precinct. Viewed from above, the facility occupies an irregularly shaped area measuring nearly 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) in length and approximately 1 kilometre (0.6 mi) in width. Ranging in elevation from 115 to 180 metres (377 to 591 ft) above sea level, it occupies a modified ridgeline between two creek systems and covers approximately 110 hectares (272 acres). The landfill consists of a large engineered waste mound covered with soil and rock, with a network of landfill-gas extraction pipes extending across its surface. Beneath the mound are tens of millions of tonnes of compacted waste, forming a landfill cell approximately 25 metres high and about one kilometre in length. Active landfill operations are conducted beyond the crest of the mound, where waste is deposited, compacted and covered by heavy machinery. Active landfill operations are concentrated in the central portion of the site. Areas at the southern end have been capped and are undergoing rehabilitation, while a large excavation near the northern boundary has been prepared for future landfill development.
The facility is situated within the broader Lucas Heights Conservation Area and is largely surrounded by protected bushland. Accessed via New Illawarra Road, the park is situated on Little Forest Road in Lucas Heights, approximately 30 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, within the Sutherland Shire local government area, and is bounded by Heathcote Road to the west and south. The facility occupies approximately 205 hectares, including land owned by Cleanaway and leased land within the 1.6-kilometre exclusion zone surrounding the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) complex. To the north-east of the site were a quarry undergoing rehabilitation, the former Harrington's Quarry landfill, a liquid-waste warehouse, a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility, and the former Sutherland Shire Council night-soil depot.
Mill Creek, a tributary of the Georges River, forms on the western side of the facility and flows north through the conservation area. Most of the park is situated inside the Mill Creek catchment. The creek originates within the site and flows north along its western boundary before joining the Georges River. To minimise impacts on water quality, Cleanaway manages surface water by diverting uncontaminated runoff away from active landfill and disturbed areas, while directing stormwater runoff to sedimentation dams for treatment. Areas toward the west and south of the facility are bordered by the Holsworthy Barracks and Heathcote National Park. The nearest residential areas include the ANSTO accommodation facility approximately 300 metres east of the site, as well as the areas of Barden Ridge, Engadine and Menai.
Ecology The site meets the Lucas Heights Conservation Area and is bordered by bushland owned by ANSTO. Land surrounding the former Waste Management Centre was largely undeveloped and retained extensive areas of native woodland by the 1990s. The southern part of the site is predominantly grassed, while the northern and western sections are characterised by more sparsely vegetated and disturbed landforms associated with former landfill and borrow-area activities. Vegetation in the southern part of the site is dominated by introduced kikuyu grass grassland, with remnant woodland occurring around the perimeter. Elsewhere, vegetation is sparse and consists mainly of scattered trees and shrubs, interspersed with extensive unvegetated rocky areas associated with the borrow zones.
The site is bordered to the north, west and south by largely undisturbed native open woodland. These woodland communities typically range from 39 to 52 feet (12 to 16 metres) in height and have a canopy cover of approximately 30 to 70 per cent. With the exception of areas proposed for dam construction, development activities were intended to minimise impacts on the surrounding native vegetation. The landfill attracts large numbers of birds, including Australian ravens, ibises, Pacific gulls and the Australian pelicans, which congregate around active waste disposal areas. The site experiences a warm, dry and exposed microclimate, resulting in high rates of evapotranspiration. Average annual rainfall is approximately 1,016 mm (40 inches).
Geology The geology of the area is characteristic of the coastal tableland of the Sydney Basin, comprising Hawkesbury sandstone interstratified with shale layers. The landscape is characterised by undulating ridges and plateau surfaces separated by steep-sided valleys. Soils in adjacent undisturbed areas are typically moderately deep, ranging from approximately 0.5 to 1.5 metres (1.6 to 4.9 feet), and consist of lateritic podzols with a bleached, stony sandy clay loam profile. These soils are highly erodible and readily transported by surface runoff.The site's landform comprises several distinct geomorphological zones, including an irregularly sloping southern sector, a broad plane depression proximate to New Illawarra Road, extensive ridgelines and embankments created through landfill operations, and large sloping borrow areas located along the northern and western margins of the site.
The landfill is capped with a stratum of shattered sandstone overlying the putrefiable waste. Soil conditions throughout the site vary considerably, with cover depths ranging from approximately 100 millimetres (3.9 in) to more than 1,000 millimetres (39.4 in). Much of the cover material was sourced from extensive borrow areas located to the north and west of the site. These soils consist primarily of acidic, compacted sandy clay with low levels of nutrients and organic matter. There is little to no topsoil covering the borrow areas, which are characterised by exposed and weathered sandstone surfaces. Across the southern landfill area, the depth of cover material varies from approximately 300 millimetres (11.8 in) to 1,500 millimetres (59.1 in).
Facilities and operations The facility includes:
A designed landfill permitting common solid (both decayable and non-decayable) waste and asbestos garbage. A green waste processing facility receiving garden organics and timber waste. A public drop-off centre for recyclable materials, including paper, pasteboard, steel and aluminium cans, electronic waste, scrap metal, used oil, paint, whitegoods and vehicle batteries. A transfer station for small vehicles carrying miscellaneous stacks of comprehensive solid waste.
Waste is transported to the site by truck and deposited in active landfill areas. The facility receives approximately 3,000 tonnes of waste per day, equivalent to nearly one million tonnes annually. The landfill is engineered with a high-density polyethylene liner and clay barrier designed to prevent leachate from contaminating surrounding groundwater and waterways. Captured landfill gas is used to generate electricity, with the site's landfill-gas power station reportedly producing enough energy to supply approximately 25,000 homes. The park also hosts a minibike facility operated by the Police Citizens Youth Clubs NSW on a rehabilitated landfill area, while the Sydney International Clay Target Association leases land on the western boundary for clay target shooting. A former landfill area to the north-east of the site, known as LH1, has been redeveloped for recreational use.
Expansion proposals