Circular Economy: The Key to Tackling Both Waste Treatment and Energy Costs
As the climate crisis accelerates, “carbon neutrality” has become not a choice, but a critical requirement for survival worldwide. Korea is no exception. Under the “Act on the Promotion of Production and Use of Biogas from Organic Waste Resources (Biogas Act),” which took effect in 2025, obligations are being strengthened not only for local governments but also for private-sector obligated producers to generate biogas by utilizing organic waste resources.
Organic waste resources—such as sewage sludge, food waste, and livestock manure—that once required costs simply to dispose of are now being re-evaluated as “new energy resources” that can reduce corporate energy costs and cut carbon emissions.
In this blog, we introduce how Veolia is converting waste into valuable resources and energy across the world and in Korea—highlighting our technologies and real-world cases.
(Circular economy diagram: Waste → Biogas → Electricity/Heat)
1. How Waste Becomes Energy: Anaerobic Digestion
The core technology behind biogas production is anaerobic digestion. In an oxygen-free environment, microorganisms break down organic waste, generating biogas with methane (CH₄) as its main component.
Veolia’s waste-to-energy solutions capture and refine this gas for the following uses:
- Power generation: Producing electricity by running gas engines (for onsite use and/or sale to the KEPCO)
- Heat (steam) production: Supplying process steam by using it as boiler fuel
- City gas / transport fuel: Upgrading to high purity to use as an alternative to natural gas
This not only reduces fossil fuel use—cutting Scope 1 (direct) greenhouse gas emissions—but also helps protect the environment by preventing methane that would otherwise be released during the waste treatment process.
👉 [Learn more about Veolia’s solutions] Waste-to-Energy & Resource Recovery
2. Recycling Organic Waste Resources
Producing eco-friendly fertilizer and compost is a leading model of the circular economy—delivering both environmental sustainability and economic benefits at the same time.
(Producing eco-friendly fertilizer using organic waste resources)
1. Environmental benefits: Soil restoration and carbon reduction
- Replacing chemical fertilizers and improving soil: Reduces use of petrochemical-based fertilizers and restores soil health by supplying organic-matter-rich, environmentally friendly fertilizers—helping recover fertility in acidified soils.
- Lower greenhouse gas emissions: Prevents methane (CH₄) generation from landfill disposal in advance, and supports carbon sequestration by fixing carbon into soil through resource recovery processes.
- Preventing water pollution and odor issues: Fundamentally addresses leachate (groundwater contamination) and odor problems caused by illegal dumping or unauthorized landfilling.
2. Economic benefits: Resource recovery and lower treatment costs
- Creating new revenue streams: Waste is transformed into marketable, high-quality fertilizer/compost products that generate sales.
- Reducing disposal costs: For waste generators (local governments and companies), this can be a cheaper and more eco-friendly option than incineration or landfilling.
- Synergy with energy recovery: When anaerobic digestion is applied, two economic values can be realized at once—biogas (energy) and digestate-based compost (by-product).
3. Veolia’s Global Expertise
Veolia operates thousands of waste treatment facilities worldwide and has accumulated extensive data and technical capabilities.
Across countries including France, the UK, and China, we have transformed wastewater treatment plants and waste facilities into “energy production hubs.” In particular, by integrating Veolia’s digital monitoring system Hubgrade, we analyze digester conditions in real time and optimize gas production yields—an operational know-how that is leading the global industry.
More than simply building facilities, ensuring energy production efficiency through stable operations and maintenance (O&M) is the core of Veolia’s global solution.
[Global Case] Where Food Waste Turns into Electricity: EarthPower, Sydney, Australia
(Handling 50,000 tons of food waste each year and supplying electricity to 3,600 households)
1. Project background: Rising waste volumes and landfills at their limit
Australia faces severe waste challenges, with the world’s second-highest per-capita municipal waste generation (about 700 kg per year). In particular, around 40% of total waste is estimated to be food waste (putrescible waste), which can cause serious environmental pollution and greenhouse gas emissions when landfilled.
A solution to this challenge is the EarthPower facility, located in Camellia, Sydney.
2. Veolia’s solution: Anaerobic digestion
Operated by Veolia since 2007, EarthPower collects and treats diverse organic waste streams from households, commercial facilities, and food manufacturers across the Sydney region.
- Feedstock: Fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, confectionery/bakery products, dairy products, packaged food waste, and liquid waste (e.g., from grease traps)
- Core technology: Producing biogas (methane) through microbial decomposition using two anaerobic digesters with a capacity of 4,600 m³ each
3. Key outcomes
EarthPower is not simply a waste treatment site. It is a green power plant and fertilizer production facility for the city.
- Power generation: Processes approximately 50,000 tons of food waste annually and generates green electricity sufficient for about 3,600 households, supplying it to the grid.
- Heat recovery: Waste heat generated during power production is reused to maintain digester temperature or in fertilizer drying processes.
- Natural fertilizer production: Digestate remaining after digestion is dried and pelletized, then sold as nutrient-rich fertilizer for agriculture and horticulture.
- Carbon reduction: Significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions compared to landfill disposal and helps lower customers’ environmental footprints (e.g., Sydney Markets).
The EarthPower case demonstrates that food waste can be safely and efficiently converted into energy even near urban areas. Based on this global operational experience, Veolia provides optimized integrated solutions for organic waste resources to companies and local governments in Korea.
[Korea Case] Dongyang Green Bio, Bonghwa-gun
(Overview of fermentation facility) (Solar panels installed on the facility rooftop)
In Korea, Dongyang Green Bio, located in Bonghwa-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do, is a representative example.
This is an organic waste-to-energy facility that simultaneously treats about 120 tons per day of food waste and sludge. Veolia acquired the facility in 2017 and has delivered the following outcomes through expansion and upgrades:
- Resource recovery: After acquiring a facility originally treating about 60 tons/day of food waste, Veolia expanded capacity by an additional 60 tons/day, enabling treatment of sewage sludge as well.
- Energy self-sufficiency: In 2022, solar panels with an installed (design) capacity of 425 kWp were installed on the rooftop, generating 558 MWh of renewable electricity and supplying about 29% of the site’s energy consumption—contributing to energy savings and carbon reduction.
- Solving environmental issues: Fully addressed chronic odor and wastewater treatment challenges, while recovering remaining by-products into eco-friendly compost and returning them to local farms—building a complete circular economy model.
Dongyang Green Bio is a best-practice example of how a waste treatment facility can evolve from a “NIMBY facility” into an environmentally friendly site that coexists with the community while producing energy.
A Partner for a Sustainable Future
With tightening environmental regulations and volatile energy prices, recycling and energy recovery of organic waste resources is one of the most reliable investments to strengthen corporate competitiveness.
Veolia is a Total Solution Provider, responsible for the entire project lifecycle—from feasibility studies and design to construction and professional operation (O&M). Consult with Veolia’s experts to explore how your waste can become a valuable resource.