The plant would reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill
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A multi-million pound waste treatment plant to reduce the amount of rubbish sent to landfill could be built near Polmont in Falkirk.
A planning application for a mechanical biological treatment (MBT) centre has been submitted to Falkirk Council.
It is thought the �18m facility could be the first in Europe to use water to separate out material for recycling.
Other waste would be processed with enzymes to produce renewable energy and soil treatment products.
If permission is granted, the MBT plant would open in 2009.
Biological treatment
Avondale Environmental Ltd, which runs the landfill site near Polmont, said it would handle 70,000 tonnes of waste a year.
General manager Stuart Egan told the BBC Scotland news website: "The plant will mechanically separate waste which can then be taken away for recycling.
"The rest is given a biological treatment, where enzymes break it down in the digesters to create methane, which is turned into renewable power.
"The residual waste can then possibly become a soil-enhancing material which can be used in the restoration of brown landfill sites."
Mr Egan added that the MBT facility would help local councils comply with strict European landfill rules.
He said: "This is an alternative to incineration and we are very excited because it enables us to be the first in the country to aid local authorities meet their landfill directive targets.
"In addition, if we're diverting waste away from landfill, we are preserving the life of our existing site."
Avondale Environmental Ltd already has planning permission for a recycling centre, and has applied for a variation to construct the MBT plant.
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This is an alternative to incineration and we are very excited because it enables us to aid local authorities meet their landfill directive targets
