UK’s First Full-Scale Energy-from-Waste Carbon Capture Plant: A Blueprint Worth Watching

The UK has long signalled its ambition on carbon capture. Now, in Cheshire, that ambition is taking physical shape. 

Waste management firm Encyclis, backed by a landmark agreement with the UK government, is developing the Protos carbon capture and storage facility near Ellesmere Port. When operational by mid-2029, it will become one of the world's first full-scale CCS projects integrated with an energy-from-waste facility, capturing around 370,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year and routing it via pipeline to permanent sub-sea storage in Liverpool Bay.

This is proof that waste infrastructure, a sector where emissions have historically been difficult to eliminate through operational changes alone, can be meaningfully decarbonised. Around half of the CO₂ captured will be biogenic in origin, meaning that portion qualifies as genuine carbon removal rather than avoided emissions. The remaining half, derived from fossil-based waste, represents a material emissions reduction. Both matter, but the distinction is increasingly consequential for corporate net zero commitments and the carbon accounting frameworks that underpin them.

The project also signals what government-backed industrial policy can unlock. Supported by the UK's £21.7 billion CCS investment programme and integrated into the HyNet North West decarbonisation cluster, Protos demonstrates that when policy and private capital align, the full infrastructure chain from capture and transport to permanent storage can be built at scale.