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Plans for a new £20m recycling facility near Ellesmere Port have been given the green light, with the site set to open in summer 2022, creating 50 jobs in the process.

Specialist recycler Enviroo will open its first º£½ÇÊÓƵ centre at Protos, Peel's 54-hectare energy and resource hub in Cheshire.

According to Enviroo, the new facility will take polyethylene terephthalate (PET) – the main material used for food and drinks packaging such as plastic bottles, and convert it into the raw material for new food-grade packaging.

Enviroo will use technology to sort and wash the waste, before creating pellets to be used by manufacturers to create new packaging products. The tech will able to re-use 100% of the PET it takes in.

The firm said this will become increasingly important from next year, when a new la­w will mean a tax charged on any packaging containing less than 30% recycled PET.

Ahmed Detta, CEO and founder of Enviroo, said: “We are delighted to have our planning application approved. After a positive consultation with the community, we now look forward to being able to get down to business and deal with plastic waste here on our shores and importantly help to create a greener North West.

"Our first facility will hopefully be one of many as Enviroo look to provide a solution for packaging manufacturers who are preparing for the upcoming plastic tax legislation. Our facilities will provide the recycled PET manufacturers need in their products, while reducing the amount of virgin plastic.”

Enviroo’s first facility is at the £165m Plastic Park at Protos, which will cluster together plastic recycling and recovery technologies to create value from plastic waste, helping to avoid it ending up in landfill, exported overseas or in the ocean.