Northmore Gordon & Visy Win at the 2025 Australian Renewable Heat Awards

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Publication date: September 3, 2025.

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What this article reported

Northmore Gordon is proud to celebrate a shared success with our client Visy, winner of the Outstanding Biomass Project at the 2025 Australian Renewable Heat Awards.

The annual Awards recognise pioneering projects driving the transition to renewable heat across Australia. This year's award highlights the Visy Gibson Island Fuel Preparation Plant in Brisbane, a first-of-its-kind facility in the pulp and paper sector that demonstrates how innovation and collaboration can deliver measurable sustainability outcomes.

The project delivers impressive results:

These outcomes are achieved by transforming landfill-bound waste into a renewable, boiler-ready fuel, coupled with a converted multi-fuel boiler that ensures reliable, low-emissions steam generation for mill operations. This circular economy solution not only supports Visy's sustainability commitments but also sets a benchmark for waste-to-energy innovation in Australian industry.

Northmore Gordon's contribution was critical in ensuring the project's emissions reductions were recognised and verified. We developed and implemented the stacked carbon measurement strategy, applying two accredited methods under the Federal Emissions Reduction Fund. This enabled Visy to achieve verified, tradable carbon reductions while strengthening the project's commercial case.

We congratulate Visy and fellow partners - Steinert Australia, TOMRA Sorting Solutions, and John Thompson/IBL Services - on this award and their role in delivering an Australian-first achievement.

At Northmore Gordon, we are proud to partner with forward-thinking companies like Visy, applying our expertise in carbon strategy, measurement, and verification to help transform challenges into sustainability leadership.

How to use this information now

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Separate source-reported facts from forecasts, targets and commentary. For a current project, retain the official source, version, effective date, assumptions and decision record in the evidence file.

What makes the Visy Gibson Island Fuel Preparation Plant a significant achievement in the pulp and paper sector?

The facility represents a first-of-its-kind implementation in the pulp and paper sector, transforming landfill-bound waste into renewable, boiler-ready fuel. By diverting 33,000 tonnes of waste annually from landfill and displacing 17,000 tonnes of coal, the plant creates a circular economy solution that addresses both waste management and decarbonization challenges. The facility demonstrates how industrial operators can integrate resource recovery with reliable, low-emissions steam generation for mill operations, establishing a replicable model for the sector.

How did Northmore Gordon's carbon measurement strategy enable Visy's verified emissions reductions?

We developed and implemented a stacked carbon measurement strategy applying two accredited methods under the Federal Emissions Reduction Scheme. This approach allowed Visy to generate verified, tradable carbon reductions that strengthened the project's commercial case. By combining multiple measurement pathways, we helped establish credible evidence of the 34,000 tonnes of verified CO₂-e annual emissions reductions, enabling Visy to unlock carbon credit revenue while demonstrating measurable environmental outcomes to stakeholders and regulators.

What are the quantified environmental benefits of the Visy Gibson Island project?

The facility delivers three interconnected environmental outcomes: it diverts 33,000 tonnes of waste from landfill annually, displaces 17,000 tonnes of coal per year, and achieves 34,000 tonnes of verified CO₂-e emissions reductions annually. These metrics reflect both the waste-diversion and fuel-substitution benefits of the project. The alignment between waste diverted, coal avoided, and verified emissions reductions demonstrates the circular economy effectiveness of converting waste into renewable fuel, creating value across multiple environmental dimensions simultaneously.

How does Northmore Gordon support industrial clients pursuing carbon-accredited projects?

We apply expertise in carbon strategy, measurement, and verification to help transform operational and sustainability challenges into measurable outcomes. For projects like Visy's, we develop tailored measurement strategies that meet scheme requirements, coordinates between technology partners and regulators, and establishes the evidence needed for carbon credit issuance. By connecting technical implementation with accredited measurement pathways, we help forward-thinking companies demonstrate verified emissions reductions, strengthen project economics, and achieve sustainability leadership while maintaining operational reliability.

What role does waste diversion play in Visy's emissions reduction strategy?

Waste diversion serves as both an environmental outcome and a fuel supply mechanism in Visy's strategy. By converting 33,000 tonnes of waste that would otherwise enter landfill into renewable boiler fuel, the project eliminates landfill methane emissions while simultaneously displacing coal consumption. This dual benefit—waste elimination plus fuel substitution—creates compounded environmental value. The circular economy design means that each tonne of waste diverted contributes both to waste management objectives and verified carbon reductions, maximizing the sustainability impact of the facility's operations.

Why was the 2025 Australian Renewable Heat Awards recognition significant for Northmore Gordon?

The award recognition validated our approach to stacked carbon measurement and industrial decarbonization strategy. By celebrating Visy's achievement as a shared success, we demonstrated our capability to deliver accredited measurement frameworks that unlock verified carbon reductions in complex industrial settings. The award highlighted our role in connecting technical feasibility with commercial viability through rigorous measurement methodology, establishing our expertise in helping industrial operators achieve measurable sustainability outcomes that translate into tradable carbon value and competitive advantage.

What measurement considerations are relevant for similar waste-to-fuel and coal-displacement projects?

Waste-to-fuel and coal-displacement projects require careful measurement design to separately track waste diversion, fuel substitution, and emissions outcomes. The measurement boundary must account for avoided landfill methane, coal avoided in the existing boiler, and actual fuel characteristics of the renewable source. Baseline conditions—including historical waste disposal, existing fuel mix, and equipment efficiency—must be established before implementation. Our approach of applying multiple accredited methods helps projects capture all eligible emissions reductions while ensuring measurement rigor, which strengthens both compliance with scheme requirements and the commercial value of issued carbon credits.

How do stacked carbon methods increase the commercial viability of industrial decarbonization projects?

Stacked methods allow projects to claim emissions reductions under multiple accredited pathways simultaneously, maximizing the quantity of verified carbon credits generated from a single physical intervention. For the Visy project, applying two Federal Emissions Reduction Scheme methods enabled the facility to capture waste-diversion benefits and fuel-substitution benefits within a single credible measurement framework. This approach increases the total carbon credit revenue available to support project investment while maintaining rigorous verification standards. By optimizing which emissions pathways a project qualifies for, stacked methods improve project economics and reduce the payback period for capital investment in industrial decarbonization technology.

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