Lake Macquarie Council has gone through significant changes over the past eight years to bring it up to speed in cutting back greenhouse emissions.

One of those changes was to bring Awaba Waste Management Facility into the 21st century.

Awaba acting waste sites coordinator Steve Merrett says the process of converting household rubbish into electricity is not as complicated as one might think.

“When the waste breaks down it produces methane gas.

“You can then burn the methane gas to produce electricity.”

A network of around 40 wells and interconnecting pipes going underground as far 20 metres extract and combust the methane gas.

The system is powered by a V16 Caterpillar engine, which runs round the clock and is automatically controlled.

The capture and flare program works in partnership with the Landfill Management Services.

To date, 6248396 cubic metres of landfill gas have been flared at the site.

Sustainability project coordinator for Lake Macquarie Council Rodney Ingersoll says the capture and flaring of methane gas program has made up a significant part of the Cities for Climate Protection program, which council joined in November 2000.

The program is administered by the International Council of Local Environmental initiatives Oceania.

In reaching the fifth and final milestone of the program, council had to actively show it was taking initiates to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through corporate and community actions.

This included retrofitting administration buildings, setting up community education programs, and having REFIT kits available for residents to purchase, which contain energy and water saving devices.

The REFIT kits in particular has been quite successful, with over 3000 installed in homes in the Lake Macquarie area, with each of the kits preventing approximately 5.5 tonnes of greenhouse gases from being released into the atmosphere.

Council has now set targets to reduce greenhouse emissions of 30 per cent for corporate and 30pc for citywide by 2018.