FENLAND District Council’s leaders got a glimpse of the future when they were given a guided tour of the new, environmentally friendly green energy plant being built by Local Generation next to the Fenmarc Produce site in Westry, March.

FDC Leader, Councillor Alan Melton, and Deputy Leader, Councillor Chris Seaton, saw work in progress at the anaerobic digestion plant which will turn both packaged and unpackaged food waste into green electricity and heat.

The end product of the process – the digestate – will be available to farmers and landscape gardeners for use as high-quality soil conditioner.

The result will be to cut local landfill by as much as 30,000 tonnes a year and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The electricity generated will be used to power the whole plant and provide pure green energy to Fenmarc.

Cllr Melton said: “This is a really exciting and significant scheme which again sees Fenland at the forefront of the development of green energy in Britain. The benefits will be seen by people throughout Fenland and beyond.”

The plant is expected to be commissioned shortly and will be fully operational early in 2012.

The build has been supported by a capital grant from the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), a not-for-profit company that works with businesses and individuals to help them reduce waste, develop sustainable products and use resources efficiently.

For details of all WRAP’s programmes, visit www.wrap.org.uk