ONE look at the new Macarthur Resource Recovery Park and you feel as if you've stepped into a factory not what is essentially a 21st century rubbish tip.

It is home to millions of hungry microbes usually used in cheese or beer making that are ready to munch down on household waste.

After the microbes ingest their fill, the end result is methane gas that will be turned into green electricity and exported into the grid for households to use.

The process involves plenty of conveyor belts, turbines and oxygen-free tanks but a surprising lack of space for landfill.

That's because about 75per cent of all rubbish entering the Macarthur Resource Recovery Park launched last week at Jacks Gully, south-west of Mount Annan and near the new Spring Farm estates will be recycled or turned into gas.

Operations manager Bruce Bailey said it was the first full-scale plant anywhere in the world using this technology.

``When I say we're on the frontier of science we're on the frontier of science,'' he said.

The resource recovery park is operated by WSN Environmental Solutions and will process 90,000 tonnes of rubbish and 30,000 tonnes of organic waste from Wollondilly, Campbelltown, Camden and Wingecarribee each year.

``The whole reason [for the plant] is that the State Government dictates that they want to reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill significantly,'' Mr Bailey said. ``The only way we can do that is to build these sorts of plants that are specially designed to pull out anything that is recyclable and, in this particular process, all foodstuffs are dissolved in water.''

About 75per cent of the waste will be recycled or broken down by bacteria. What's left will be incorporated into the nearby hill and landscaped over.

``It has had all the food waste and organics removed and is non-putrescent,'' Mr Bailey said.

The Jacks Gully landfill closed on Sunday so until the plant is operational waste will be diverted to Eastern Creek.

Mr Bailey said some waste would be fed through the separation hall and into the microbiological plant ``to slowly feed the bugs and wake them up'' by the end of July or early August.