YOUNG waste watchers were taken on a tour of a £1m environmental facility this week.

Members of Investing in Children's environmental team learned how the revolutionary aerobic digestion plant in Thornley is reducing the county's annual waste mountain.

Opened by Prime Minister Tony Blair last summer, it is owned by County Durham Environmental Trust (CDENT), operated by Premier Waste Management and funded under the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme.

Despite only functioning as a small-scale research facility, the plant can transform 5,000 tonnes of unsegregated household waste a year into compost and recyclable bi-products such as aluminium, steel, glass and plastics.

Durham County Councillor Joe Armstrong, chairman of the authority's sustainability group, conducted the young people's tour. He said: "I was very impressed by their environmental concerns and their wish to see waste production go down and recycling go up.

"I have asked them to become involved in our efforts to persuade people to use fewer plastic carrier bags, and they are currently working on publicity material we will be using as part of our campaign later this summer.

"In the meantime, I thought they might like to see the ground-breaking work that is being done in County Durham to address their concerns."