Renewable energy firm Cynar (GB-London W1J 6BD; www.cynarplc.com) is planning to build 15 plants over the next five years for turning mixed plastic waste into a road transport fuel similar to diesel. The company said the technology, termed “ThermoFuel”, has been proven in Japan, where there are nine plants operating, one of which has been running for 10 years. A typical plant consumes 20 t of mixed waste a day, producing 930-980 litres of fuel per tonne. This equates to an output of 6m litres of fuel annually for each plant.

World rights for the technology are held by an Australian company, Ozmotech (www.ozmotech.com), which has granted Cynar a licence for the UK and Ireland. Cynar signed a GBP 15m contract with Ozmotech for seven plants in December 2004 and it expects four of these to undergo installation by mid-2006 – one each in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and southeast England. Cynar chairman Michael Murray told Plasteurope.com there is sufficient interest for 15 plants, using waste sourced either from farms or local authorities.

Already, Cynar has signed an agreement for waste collection with the Irish Farm Films Producers Group, which operates the Farm Plastics Collection and Recovery Scheme. It is also in discussion with a number of local authorities in the UK over waste collection as well as with transport firms interested in being supplied with fuel.