As 2024 wound to a close, here at Tellus the milestones kept coming.
During December at our geological repository at Sandy Ridge, Tellus accepted just under 8,000 tonnes of hazardous chemical and radioactive waste.
This made December 2024 our biggest month ever—and capped off our biggest calendar year, with 59,250 tonnes of waste through the gate, an increase of more than 25,000 tonnes over 2023.
What was the composition of the waste received in 2024? We’re glad you asked.
The vast bulk, 57,370 tonnes was hazardous chemical waste, while 1,880 tonnes was low-level radioactive waste. The latter number includes 1,610 tonnes of soil from a site in Hunters Hill, Sydney, that was contaminated for more than 100 years, but can now be returned to public use.
Since the beginning of 2023, Sandy Ridge has been Australia’s sole licensed repository for low-level radioactive waste.
It is not often realised that renewable energy creates hazardous waste right along the supply chain, including from the by-products of critical minerals. In 2024, 24,738 tonnes of hazardous waste connected with the extraction of critical minerals ended its life at Sandy Ridge.
In addition, in 2024, we received and permanently disposed of waste from every state and territory in Australia. And to make it an even bigger year for Tellus, in August, Sandy Ridge hit the major milestone of 100,000 tonnes of waste in total through the gate.
While milestones are worth celebrating for their own sake, it’s what they mean that really matters. The material laid permanently to rest at Sandy Ridge is hazardous waste that can’t leach into waterways, threaten human health, or otherwise harm the natural environment.
These milestones also reflect the progress we are making in our broader mission: to enable Australia’s transition to a green and renewable economy.
And finally, our “big December” was possible thanks to our people, who worked on tirelessly—even on Christmas Day—as so many of their friends were already heading off to the beach.
And now – here’s to an even bigger 2025!
