EnCycle, a wholly owned subsidiary of Inetec, has been granted planning permission to build the first of ten renewable electricity power stations powered by food and non-recyclable packaging waste in the UK.

On the 30th May Immingham County Council granted EnCycle planning permission to develop Europe's first food waste to energy power station to be located near Immingham Docks in North East England. After careful consideration the council acknowledged that the plant would be beneficial to the region, whilst contributing significantly to government waste and energy targets and would help promote new jobs and investment into North East Lincolnshire region.

The energy centre will process 500 tonnes of food and packaging waste each day and will produce a nominal output of 24MW of renewable electricity. This surpasses the entire North East Lincolnshire regional target for renewable energy generation.

This is the first centre of its kind anywhere in Europe and will lead to the diversion of around 180,000 tonnes of waste away from landfill. The plant is the first of a nationwide infrastructure of ten plants which are to be built around the UK over the next five years.

Development of this site will bring an investment of £80 million to the region and will create up to 70 construction jobs and a further 60 permanent positions once the plant becomes operational.

EnCycle, the company behind the development, are a subsidiary company of Inetec, a Welsh based environmental technology innovator. Over the past ten years Inetec have developed this unique technology and have recently gained "novel" technology status for their process which also process animal by products. Inetec already have several inset plants in operation at factory locations around the UK.

The region was chosen for the first energy centre due to the high concentration of food producers in the region. By allowing the manufacturers to fix costs on waste disposal, by diverting waste away from landfill, the centre will also help secure the jobs of the 14,000 people employed in the food sector in NE Lincs region.

The plant's capacity of 180,000 tonnes per year is already fully allocated, and a number of contracts are already in place with some of the UK's leading food manufacturers.

Peter Corris, Director of EnCycle says "We are delighted that the authority has granted planning for us to develop this vital renewable energy centre. The need for such centres in huge as the demand for convenience foods continues to grow. This plant will represent a significant step forward in terms of how the UK disposes of its food waste and importantly, displace fossil fuel in the production of renewable electricity.

"This location was chosen due to its close proximity to the UK's largest food manufacturing cluster. The site is ideal for our requirements with easy access off the M180 and Immingham docks. The centre should encourage further investment in the region by other food producers and will provide a sustainable and environmental credible disposal route for their waste problem, consequently eliminating landfill as a disposal mechanism. The decision by NE Lincs council in granting consent for this unique facility demonstrates the environment is at the heart of their development strategy. The departments forward thinking shows they are keen to secure economic development within the region whilst exceeding government environmental and energy commitments.

He continues, "This favourable decision represents a massive step forward for EnCycle and Inetec. This plant will be the benchmark for all our future business plans and should help us on our way to reaching our ambitious target of building ten plants in the next five years, as we look to make a significant contribution to helping the UK reach its landfill diversion target set out by the government. These are exciting times at Inetec and we are looking forward to being able to commence construction of the plant in Autumn 2007."