A major new resource recovery facility, that will boost Bradford and Calderdale's recycling rates and produce enough electricity to power the equivalent of 20,000 homes, has been given the green light.

Members of Bradford Council's Regulatory and Appeals Committee have approved plans submitted by Pennine Resource Recovery (PRR) for the state-of-the-art centre to be built at Bowling Back Lane, Bradford.

PRR was formed in January 2012 and is a consortium of respected international companies, Skanska, FCC Environment and AECOM. The consortium was originally known as ETS (Earth Tech Skanska), named after the founding members. Earth Tech has since been purchased by AECOM and PRR is led by Skanska as the principal investor and developer.

Skanska will be responsible for delivering the project and will work in a joint venture with AECOM, a global provider of professional technical and management support services, to design, build and commission the Resource Recovery Facility. FCC Environment (formerly Waste Recycling Group (WRG)), a leading UK waste management and energy recovery company, will operate the facility.

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The facility will mechanically extract valuable recyclable materials from Bradford and Calderdale's household waste before using the remainder to produce electricity to be supplied to the National Grid.

In doing so, it will divert over 90% of Bradford and Calderdale's waste away from landfill each year, help the councils increase their recycling rates to over 50% and generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of 20,000 homes.

As part of the project, approximately 80 permanent jobs will be created at Bowling Back Lane and Hard Ings Way Keighley, with a further 300 positions created during construction.

Speaking after the committee's decision Mark Tribe, Project Director for Pennine Resource Recovery (PRR), said: "Our project will bring great economic and environmental benefits to Bradford and Calderdale and we’re delighted councillors have recognised this.

"No matter how environmentally responsible we are, our society will always generate waste. The Resource Recovery Facility will ensure we deal with waste in a sustainable way and avoid sending it to environmentally damaging and increasingly costly landfill sites.

"This decision is great news for Bradford and Calderdale. The scheme has been specifically designed for the area and we will be working very closely with local training and employment agencies to ensure that local people across both districts are able to benefit from the employment and training opportunities on offer."

It is anticipated that construction will begin in spring 2013 at the Bowling Back Lane site where Bradford Council’s existing Waste Transfer Station currently stands.

The facility is expected to be operational by 2016.

(CD/GK)