Labour leader Ed Miliband meet staff from Tetronics International in South Marston this afternoon.

He arrived at the headquarters of the firm, which is a global leader in the supply of systems to turn waste material into valuable commercial products, at 2pm.

After meeting company officials he was given a tour and spoke to graduate workers.

During the visit, Mr Miliband learned of the Swindon based companies’ successes and plans for the future. 

Tetronics’ technology, which uses pioneering plasma treatment to process and recover valuable resources from waste as well as treat hazardous materials, has been selected as one of a number of projects funded by government agency Innovate UK.  The company has also gone from strength to strength internationally with growing sales in USA, Europe and the Far East.

Meanwhile, APP, an advanced waste to energy and fuels company employing Tetronics technology, has been working with National Grid on a project – the first of its kind – that demonstrates how to use waste to produce bio-substitute natural gas (Bio-SNG).  It signing a £20m contract in June this year to supply its technology to a waste to energy project in Port of Hamilton, Canada.

Mr Miliband’s visit follows a visit to the companies in the summer by Trade Minister, Lord Livingston.

Graeme Rumbol, CEO of Tetronics, said: “It was great to host Ed Miliband today.

"In the run up to the election we will be outlining our ambitious plans to all the main political parties, as we seek to achieve our goals of growing and developing technology which makes a positive difference to the environment.

"The visit was a recognition of the excellent work we have done over the past year, and with the right support, we’re looking forward to building on this positive momentum into the future.”

And Rolf Stein, CEO of APP, said: “Ed took a real interest in our technology and could see the huge potential it has to transform how we look at wasted energy resources in the UK and beyond.

“We’re proud to be a key part of the Swindon economy and will be striving to bring further success and high-skilled jobs to this area and other parts of the UK over the coming years.”