A BIOMASS plant turning waste food into energy is set to open in Widnes, creating 40 new jobs.

Granox won planning permission from Halton Council to develop an anaerobic digestion plant, de-packaging building and two storey offices.

The company, now called PDM Group Limited, plans to contruct the development on 1.12 hectares of land at their present site in Desoto Road.

The plant is designed to process 90,000 tonnes of food waste a year and generate 4.2 megawatts of renewable electricity.

The firm has already set up a similar anaerobic digestion plant in Doncaster.

Granox is currently authorised to operate a renewable energy facility and animal by-product processing plants.

“The AD plant will process commercial food waste collected from large scale producers, such as supermarkets and depots, and smaller producers, such as shops, restaurants and canteens,” members of the development control committee were told.

“These materials are proposed to be collected from within a 50 mile radius and delivered to the site on a daily basis.

“The majority of these materials are currently going to landfill.”

The new building and tanks have been designed to a high standard to minimise their visual impact, the committee heard.

The most up-to-date pollution control and continuous emissions monitoring systems will be incorporated in its design.

Temporary and long term jobs will be created during its construction and operation.

Once operational, 40 employees will be recruited in management, electrical and mechanical engineering, process operation, maintenance engineers and clerical .