The UK’s first waste plastic to hydrogen facility has received unanimous planning consent from Cheshire West and Chester Council.
Peel Environmental and Wase2Tricity confirmed that the go ahead had been given for the £7mn development at the 54-hectare Protos site near Ellesmere Port. It will see 14 full time permanent jobs created at Protos, along with over 100 in the North West during fabrication and construction. Up to 35 tonnes of unrecyclable plastics will be treated a day, transforming how plastic waste is dealt with in the region, with it used to create a local source of hydrogen. This could then be used as clean fuel for buses, HGVs and cars. The facility will also generate electricity that could be provided to commercial users through a microgrid at Protos.
Autumn 2020 is when a start on site is now expected after securing planning approval, with the facility then set to be operational in 2021. Peel Environmental signed a Collaboration Agreement with Waste2Tricity and PowerHouse Energy last year to develop 11 waste plastic to hydrogen facilities across the UK, equating to a £130mn investment.
Myles Kitcher, Managing Director at Peel Environmental said: “The creation of this UK-first facility makes great strides to solve two important issues; the huge amount of waste plastic produced, and the over-reliance on fossil fuels for energy. The technology has been proven at Thornton Science Park and will now be commercialised at Protos, before being rolled out across the UK. This is hugely significant for Cheshire and the wider region, demonstrating how we’re rising to the challenge of being the UK’s first low carbon industrial cluster and setting a standard for others to follow.”
