Regional Renewable Organics Network

Around Australia, the government, businesses and the community are exploring new ways to reduce and manage waste. Each year the waste we generate increases at double the rate of our population. Barwon Water has teamed up with six local councils to turn waste into clean, green energy and nutrient-rich products via a Regional Renewable Organics Network at the Black Rock Water Reclamation Plant in Connewarre.

This ground-breaking facility will take local commercial, industrial, household food and garden waste and wastewater organic waste, and safety convert it into products that capture carbon in the ground, improve the soil for agricultural uses, and produce renewable energy. It will process 40,000 tonnes of household, commercial and industrial organic waste each year, diverting waste from landfill and concentrating it into 8,000 tonnes of useful products.

While it’s a vital environmental project, it was important to bring the local community along on the journey. They needed to be informed and consulted and have their questions responded to. Education was a critical component of the communications and engagement for this project. It involved taking complex and technical information and making it accessible and easy to understand for everyone. Capire supported Barwon Water with its engagement and communications campaign, helping to deliver information about the project that was clear, timely and accessible for interested community members and stakeholders.

From early October 2021 to late November 2021, we heard from community and industry members about what was important and what needs to be considered as the project progresses. Capire supported the implementation with facilitation of community briefing sessions, responded to online feedback, and prepared a summary report. We also helped Barwon Water update their online engagement platform with fact sheets tailored to specific topics people were interested in, such as environmental benefits, noise, odours, traffic, agriculture and visual amenity.

We are now working with Barwon Water on Phase 2 engagement where the community and stakeholders have been invited to provide their feedback on the design and technical assessments of the site.