A WESTON businessman is looking into building a £10million plant to turn the town's rubbish into heat and electricity. Andy Towens, managing director of Towens of Weston, has held talks with North Somerset and Weston town councillors about the idea which

A WESTON businessman is looking into building a £10million plant to turn the town's rubbish into heat and electricity.Andy Towens, managing director of Towens of Weston, has held talks with North Somerset and Weston town councillors about the idea which he says could save the taxpayer thousands of pounds in landfill charges.The plant, which would be built next to Towens in Warne Road, 'bakes' waste that cannot be recycled and converts it into gases which are used like steam power to create energy.Mr Towens said: "This energy could be used to heat Hutton Moor Sports Centre for example, or be transferred to the adjacent electrical generating station."Environmentally it makes sense to keep Weston's waste local and recycle and re-use it within the district."The waste currently goes to neighbouring counties and we hope to cut out a lot of these road journeys using this small but efficient plant."Landfill produces carbon dioxide which creates the greenhouse effect. The waste-to-energy plant produces remarkably less emissions."This is local people caring about local waste."We are justifiably proud of what we have achieved and this plant is the next step. "We hope to have it in place by 2009 but will of course be in the hands of planners and councillors. "In the near future we plan to hold a series of open days so members of the public and other businesses can inspect our facilities and plans."Towens, which has been established for 14 years, already handles 520,000 tonnes of waste a year and recycles over 86 per cent of it.The remaining 14 per cent, which is mainly made of packaging waste, is shredded before being sent to landfill sites. The Towens site recycles cardboard, wood, soft and hard plastic, metal, soil and aggregates.