ALMOST 200,000 tonnes of residual household waste – the equivalent of 13 million black wheelie bins – has been converted into electricity at EnviRecover in its first 12 months of full operation.

Worcestershire County Council and Herefordshire Council's flagship energy-from-waste facility, operated by Severn Waste Services, became fully operational in March 2017.

Since opening, there has been a positive impact on reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill from the two counties and this amount is now minimal.

The plant produces and exports enough electricity to power the equivalent number of homes of all Kidderminster, Stourport-on-Severn, Bewdley, and a few extra, combined.

One full crane grab of waste can produce enough electricity to power an average UK home for an entire year.

Councillor Tony Miller, Worcestershire County Council cabinet member for the environment, said: "This was an ambitious project that took nearly three years to construct. EnviRecover launched on time last year with a fantastic first year of operation, giving us great results.

"A year on, the facility is achieving the targets we set and is helping to reduce our carbon footprint across Worcestershire."

Paddy Kelly, Severn Waste Services, general manager at the plant, said: “Our first year fully operating EnviRecover has been a great success.

"We couldn’t have accomplished such positive results without the hard work and dedication of our site team and the wider organisation.”

EnviRecover was formally opened by HRH Duke of Gloucester in June 2017 and is the largest single piece of capital infrastructure in the region.