What is a cap licence?
A cap licence allows a waste to energy facility operator to process permitted waste up to a specified maximum amount at their facility. A cap licence is required by anyone that intends to:
- build and operate a new thermal waste to energy facility in Victoria to process permitted waste
- increase the licensed amount of permitted waste they are allowed to process.
The cap is the maximum total amount of permitted waste that can be processed in Victoria each year by thermal waste to energy facilities. The cap has been set at 2.5 million tonnes per financial year.
The cap is designed to prevent over reliance on waste to energy as a solution to waste management and to ensure that Victoria continues to prioritise:
- decreasing waste generation
- increasing investment in recycling and resource recovery.
If capacity later becomes available (for instance by the cancellation of a project or removal of a licence from an operator), the Head, Recycling Victoria may choose to run another process to allocate the available volume.
Existing operator licences
Under the CE Act, existing operators were eligible for a thermal waste to energy licence from Recycling Victoria if they had a licence or permit granted under either the:
That licence or permit must:
- allow for the processing of permitted waste using a thermal waste-to-energy process
- have been in force immediately before 1 November 2021.
Applications for existing operator licences closed on 4 December 2023.
The Head, Recycling Victoria has issued the following licences, subject to conditions on each licence holder.
| Licence holder | Date of issue | Location |
| Paper Australia Pty Ltd | 8 December 2023 | Maryvale, 3840 |
| Visy Industries Australia Pty Ltd | 18 January 2024 | Coolaroo, 3048 |
| Great Southern Waste Technologies Pty Ltd | 7 March 2024 | Dandenong South, 3175 |
| Recovered Energy Laverton Pty Ltd | 19 April 2024 | Laverton North, 3026 |
Further information
- Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) Act 2021
- Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) (Waste to Energy Scheme) Regulations 2023
- Waste to energy: A framework for sustainable and appropriate investment
- New recycling laws and governance
- A08 (Waste to energy) licences - Environment Protection Authority permissioning decisions register
Updated