A MINISTER of state has met with the workforce of a huge energy recovery plant in Runcorn.

Sarah Jones MP, who is a minister of state in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Department for Business and Trade visited the town this week.

HyNet is planning to build new infrastructure to remove greenhouse gases from its manufacturing process.

Ms Jones visited two industrial plants to find out how HyNet's carbon capture, storage and low-carbon hydrogen infrastructure will enable businesses to create low-carbon products without emitting carbon dioxide.

One of those was Viridor’s energy recovery facility in Runcorn, which is one of the largest energy recovery facilities in Europe.

Viridor demonstrated to the MP its plan to capture nearly 900,000 tonnes of CO2 every year, which will be transported and stored beneath Liverpool Bay.

The visit highlighted the Government's commitment to unlocking economic growth and energy security through the building of low-carbon infrastructure.

Ms Jones said: “Our industrial heartlands, including here in the north west, must be at the heart of the new Government’s industrial strategy.”

“How we manage to decarbonise these industries, while not just protecting, but growing the number of good jobs and opportunities for people, will determine our success.

“HyNet is unlocking billions of investments at the same time as creating good British jobs for generations to come.”

It has been suggested that HyNet will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 10 million tonnes, the same as removing four million cars from the roads.

This will significantly help to achieve net-zero emissions, a pledge repeatedly laid out by the new Labour Government.

HyNet will also facilitate the creation of 6,000 new jobs in the industrial construction industry, leaders say, while attracting £5billion in private sector investment this year, all of which will contribute to the north west's sustained economic growth.