In response to recent comments made by Professor Andrew MacIntosh regarding the landfill gas carbon offsets method made under the Emissions Reduction Fund and verified by the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee, where he has labelled the ERF an “environmental and taxpayer fraud”, the Australian Landfill Owners Association (ALOA) highlights the fact that landfill gas has been captured and converted to useful energy in Australia for over 35 years.
During the life of the Emissions Reduction Fund Scheme, the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee and the Clean Energy Regulator, ALOA members have found their landfill gas processes to be robust and of the highest integrity. Participants in the landfill gas industry are subject to rigorous checks and balances through the lifecycle of abatement.
ALOA believes that it is regrettable that Professor MacIntosh would make such a derogatory public statement, which will inevitably create uncertainty around the benefits to the environment of landfill gas capture.
Landfills are key elements of essential infrastructure, serving a vital role in the safe and efficient disposal of a wide range of wastes. They receive materials from domestic and commercial residual waste bins as well as the residual waste produced by waste recycling and recovery operations. The role of properly designed and operated landfills was highlighted during the recent flood events in NSW and Queensland. ALOA re-iterates the role that appropriately managed, environmentally compliant and properly licenced landfills perform within a broad waste management system serving a modern society.
ALOA supports the activities of all Regulators in the waste management industry and will continue to engage with the Regulators’ endeavours to improve all environmental outcomes.
“We recognise that Regulators operate under difficult circumstances, but support their ongoing efforts to apply an even handed approach to raise environmental standards across the industry.”
Read the release here
