The new plant using ground-breaking technology in the UK for the first time will be built at the 54-hectare Protos site near Ellesmere Port.

It is the first of up to 11 waste plastic to hydrogen facilities, representing an investment of more than £130m, planned to be built in the UK.

The £7m development will see over 100 jobs created in the North West during fabrication and construction.

Following planning consent, a start on site is expected in Autumn 2020 with the facility due to be operational in 2021

Once built the technology promises to treat up to 35 tonnes of unrecyclable plastics a day to create hydrogen for clean fuel for buses, HGVs and cars.

Myles Kitcher, Managing Director at Peel Environmental, said: “The technology has been proven at Thornton Science Park and will now be commercialised at Protos, before being rolled out across the UK.

“This is hugely significant for Cheshire and the wider region, demonstrating how we’re rising to the challenge of being the UK’s first low carbon industrial cluster and setting a standard for others to follow.”

The project forms part of the North West’s bid to become the UK’s first low carbon cluster by 2030.

The North West Energy and Hydrogen Cluster is being led by the North West Business Leadership Team, with support from Greater Manchester and Liverpool City Region Mayors and the Cheshire & Warrington LEP.

In competition with other regions – such as Humber and Teeside – the Cluster could deliver 33,000 jobs, over £4bn investment and save 10 million tonnes of carbon per year.