In Cheshire, plans have been disclosed to build a factory that will transform non-recyclable household garbage into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The plant in Ellesmere Port’s Stanlow Oil Refinery will provide fuel for airlines flying out of UK airports. Its goal is to help reduce landfill waste and dependency on fossil fuels. The facility will produce hundreds of employment, according to Aviation Minister Robert Courts, as “the region takes the lead in making aviation greener.” Fulcrum NorthPoint, a £600 million waste-to-fuel plant, is part of a collaboration between Fulcrum BioEnergy Limited, Essar Oil (UK) Limited, and Stanlow Terminals Limited.

The plans are projected to be completed by the end of this year and will be operational in late 2025, subject to planning approval. During the design, build, and commissioning phase, more than 100 permanent jobs and 800 direct and indirect jobs will be created. The bio-refinery is expected to turn hundreds of thousands of tonnes of pre-processed garbage each year into around 100 million liters of low-carbon SAF. Fulcrum will build, own, and manage the factory, which will be the company’s first outside of the United States. The plant will “help reduce the burden on landfills and industry’s reliance on fossil fuels,” according to Jeff Ovens, managing director of Fulcrum UK and Europe. Stein Ivar Bye, chief executive officer at Essar, told that the latest plans “complements the announcement last month regarding a blue hydrogen development at Stanlow as part of the HyNet project”. “Together, these initiatives. will help diversify the refinery in a greener direction, and help achieve the UK’s decarbonization goals,” he added.