Victoria’s EPA has approved a $150 million waste-to-energy plant expected to power 20,000 homes.

The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) works approval was the last hurdle to clear before work begins.

The approval requires the regulator to be satisfied that measures to protect the environment are in place.

Recovered Energy Australia director Ian Guss says work can now begin.

“We would hope it will be finished sometime in 2022,” Mr Guss told reporters.

“It’s a great outcome and the EPA has been very diligent.”

The waste-to-energy plant should be able to process 200,000 tonnes a year from household bins and other sources.

The works approval is subject to conditions including quarantine facilities for hazardous waste and a high-level emissions monitoring system.

The company behind the plant also has to submit a series of reports to the EPA before construction starts.

Objections can be lodged for the next 21 days in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

“As we will only be accepting rubbish that would otherwise go to landfill, we provide a better environmental outcome by recovering energy from that waste and in the consequent reduction of Melbourne's reliance on landfill,” Mr Guss said.

The plant will rely on gasification - where waste is heated to a temperature so high that it releases gas, which is then used to heat water into steam and drive a turbine to produce electricity.

These sorts of technologies are common in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, but the cheap cost of landfill has meant Australia is slow to get on board.

However, since the collapse of recycler SKM and China’s effective ban on imports of recyclable waste, locals are becoming much more interested.