The facility is the first plant to be able to take food that has been mixed with plastic, which widens the range of usable feedstock and eliminates unnecessary separation, he added.
The 120,000 tonne capacity plant, located outside Birmingham on an existing landfill site to avoid planning permission issues, is expected to be at full capacity by the end of the summer. Biffa is also looking to build another two large facilities near Manchester and London to service the north and south of England, said Wakelin.
Meanwhile, fuel provider Greenergy has partnered with Brocklesby, a specialist in recycling edible oils, to convert overcooked, misshapen or high-fat food products such as pies, sausage rolls, pastry and crisps, which are past their sell-by dates, into biofuel through a £50M investment at its Immingham facility, said Alex Lewis head of communications at Greenergy.
The government announced its Waste Policy Review last month, which focuses on the removal of food from landfill. Biffa welcomed the review but called for details on how the government plans to support development of green waste solutions, said Wakelin.