Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Council tip no longer on the nose

The Byron Shire Council hopes the odour created by rotting waste at its Myocum landfill will soon be a thing of the past.
The council's waste manager, Russell Chaplin, says he's received several complaints from nearby residents about the smell.
He says a new gas collection and flaring system will be introduced next month.
Mr Chaplin says it can destroy up to 99 per cent of odorous gases, and could also reduce potential costs under a carbon tax.
"There's been a question as to whether or not landfills would be included under a carbon pollution-reduction scheme, so it has factored into our thinking," he said.
"At the moment we know that the landfills will be included in the new proposed carbon-tax system but we haven't got any detail as yet to know have that might affect what we would need to do at Myocum.
"Methane, which is one of the main components of landfill gas, is quite a powerful greenhouse gas and it's about 20 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
"So the process of collecting and flaring or burning the methane actually gives you quite a significant greenhouse benefit," Mr Chaplin said.

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