Waste management firm Hi-Quality – now known as HiQ – is weeks away from submitting plans for a waste-to-energy plant for its 256ha (632 acres) site in Bulla.
The firm, which runs a so-called Eco-Hub at 570-600 Sunbury Rd, announced a range of proposals for the site in January 2024. They include a drilling mud washing operation, expanding the quarry, a treatment facility for hazardous waste, and a power generation plant using waste, destined for landfill, for fuel.
The power plant will feature a chimney that’s expected to be 60 metres tall, and located about 700 metres back from Sunbury Rd.
A spokesperson for the firm says: “In early February 2025 HiQ conducted a series of information sessions and another pop-up to update the community on its progress towards submitting the waste-to-energy proposal.
“The final cap doubled the amount of waste permitted to be processed through Victorian facilities to two million tonnes a year and outlined clear regulations for their operation.”
HiQ has previously stated its annual waste capacity for the proposed plant will be 300,000 tonnes. Hume City Council collects about 10,000 tonnes of rubbish a year.
The company is now finalising its environmental and planning applications and intends to submit its final applications in April.
“HiQ will provide another update to the community at that time to share the final details,” says the spokesperson.
The HiQ spokesperson says: “HiQ’s purpose-built Bulla spoils facility ceased operations in mid-2023. It has not received any material since then.
“HiQ has applied to extend the planning approvals for that facility to allow it to accept material from any project and for a longer time period. That application is still underway, and no decision has been made.
“The wider Eco-Hub operations, including the existing landfill, quarry, organics composting, treatment and resource recovery, is continuing operations as normal within the relevant licences.”
Read this for full details of HiQ’s expansion proposals, and click here for all our reports on the firm’s plans for Bulla.
