A major waste and recycling centre could be given the green light tonight.

Plans to rebuild a waste plant in Mitcham as a larger eco-park will go before Merton Council’s planning committee this evening (Thursday).

Planning officers have already recommended the scheme to transform the site at Benedict Wharf, off Hallowfield Way, be approved.

The facility would include an anaerobic digestion and composting facility capable of processing up to 100,000 tonnes of food and garden waste a year.

Some of this resulting material would be used as biofuel to provide renewable energy.

It would also include a two-storey building with offices, meeting rooms, a canteen and an exhibition space, as well as other waste processing equipment.

The site’s main structure would be a 12m high aluminium building measuring 43m by 32m.

The construction would be done in two phases and involve the demolition of a disused chemical plant currently on the site.

Opponents of the new facility include Mitcham and Morden MP Siobhain McDonagh, who described it as “ugly and uninspiring”, and the headteacher of nearby Melrose School, which teaches children with behavioural and social problems and is one of two special schools near the site.

Headteacher Stephen Childs said the higher volume of traffic near the school would increase the chances of a serious accident.

In another letter to the council, one resident opposing the eco-park said it would become a modern version of the Brown and Root Tower in Colliers Wood.

Officers have also called for the developers to help regenerate the nearby area through a Section 106 agreement, which would demand the developers pay for improvements to paths and playing fields, and invest in public art.

Owners SITA UK said 97 jobs would eventually be created at the eco-centre – more than the 75 generated by the current plant.

Plans for the facility were first submitted in 2008, but were revised in 2009.