Part of the London Sustainable Industries Park, the facility – which includes an in-vessel composting (IVC) and the capitals first anaerobic digestion (AD) plant – will produce 1.4MW of electricity a year for the National Grid.
The green and food waste will be derived from local authorities in Essex and North London, with 30,000 tonnes of food waste processed at the AD plant and 19,000 tonnes of green waste fed through the IVC facility.
Funding for the 21 million TEG facility was derived from multiple sources, including equity investors and the London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB) and Investec Bank plc.
While at the Park, Mr Cable also opened Closed Loop Recyclings 12 million milk bottle recycling line, which will increase capacity at the firms existing Dagenham-based plant to 55,000 tonnes per year.
Closed Loop Recycling has entered into a joint green initiative with TEG, which will see the plastics recycler use 50% of the heat produced from the latters facility to heat its wash lines to make carbon savings.
Growth
Mr Cable said: This new recycling line will create jobs and growth in a growing green industry. The significant investment in the Dagenham plant will also mean less of our plastic bottles being sent to landfill or exported for recycling. It is precisely the sort of project which can support the UKs transition to a green economy.
Closed Loop Recycling is a fantastic example of how the private investment sector has identified a ground breaking and sustainable green manufacturing technology.
He added: This type of success story will continue to provide confidence for future investment and underpin continued economic growth. Supporting robust green companies will lock in green prosperity for the long term and lock carbon out.
Closed Loop Recyclings chief executive Chris Dow discussed with Mr Cable the importance of increasing milk bottle and plastic bottle collection to meet demand.
He said: Recycled milk and water bottles are a massive win for the circular economy. We discussed with the Secretary of State and his team how we can provide economic drivers to reprocess these valuable resources in the UK, rather than being exported abroad for recycling.
We can then work to influence recycling behaviour across the supply chain, from consumers to brands, in order to increase collection rates.
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