RECYCLING and waste management company, Veolia Environmental Services, is to invest £3.5m to reduce fuel consumption at its south Liverpool plant.

Veolia will spend the cash on installing combined heat and power (CHP) technology.

The proposed investment at the Stalbridge Solvent Recovery facility will help the company reduce its gas fuel consumption by 90% and save up to 5,000 tonnes of carbon a year – an amount of carbon equivalent to 1,000 homes.

The facility is a key component in Merseyside’s pharmaceutical and chemical industry cluster recovering waste solvents from production processes, recovering them through distillation and returning them into the manufacturing chain.

It would require 150,000 barrels of crude oil to produce an equivalent volume of solvents such as ethanol and toluene for use by local manufacturers.

The company undertook a strategic review of the Stalbridge operation with the aim of increasing overall recovery rates and significantly reducing carbon footprint.

Tony Garnett, the firm’s environmental services project manager, said: “We are committed to improving environmental performance and lowering our carbon footprint.”