Green power plants could end need for landfill

Plans for the first in a new generation of clean-energy plants were given the go-ahead by the government in Peterborough today.

Waste glass, plastic and metal are to be converted into clean energy and recycled into building blocks and roof tiles by Peterborough Renewable Energy (PREL).

The company is planning a series of plants across the UK which it claims could spell the end for landfill sites

Energy and Climate Change Minister David Kidney said: "This plant will provide reliable, low carbon energy for years to come. The UK needs to generate 15% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, and energy from biomass could contribute as much as a third of that. Meeting our target means we have to follow the East of England’s example and build more plants like this."

The power station will include a cluster of plants which together provide a means of dealing with materials such as waste and provide beneficial outputs such as recovered glass, plastics and metals.

A PREL spokesman said: "The Energy Park will be the first in what we hope will become a nationwide network, which will fundamentally change the way that we deal with mixed waste in the UK, eliminating all need for future landfill, creating renewable energy and producing higher value goods.

"The PREL process brings together mechanical recycling, food waste digestion, gasification, and plasma melting - in one location - to provide a zero-landfill solution for society’s rubbish."

The first plant is expected to create over 300 jobs during the construction phase.