Morristown, N.J.-based Covanta Holding Corporation announced that its Rookery South Energy Recovery Facility has received an environmental permit from the United Kingdom Environment Agency.

The facility site is located in Bedfordshire, UK, and  is expected to be fully operational by 2021. It will produce roughly 60 megawatts of energy from more than 500,000 tons of residual waste each year and is  expected to be capable of powering 75,000 homes each year with the energy it converts.

“Receipt of the environmental permit represents one of the final hurdles before we move into full construction of the Rookery project,” said Matthew Mulcahy, Covanta executive vice president and head of corporate development, in a statement. “The facility represents critical waste infrastructure that will help the UK achieve national recovery, recycling and renewable energy targets. We are pleased with the progress we have made to reach this point and look forward to bringing this project to completion.”

The Rookery facility is the first UK site in Covanta’s partnership with the Green Investment Group to develop waste-to-energy facilities in the UK and Ireland. The agreement was announced in late 2017.