THE UK's first ecopark could be built in the North-East, bringing together recycling companies from all over the country.

Two companies are looking at a number of sites in the Tees Valley. The park could double the size of the region's £1bn-turnover environmental industry.

A conference in Teesside last month brought together 70 representatives of recycling and waste management companies to discuss the potential of a park, which has the potential to create hundreds of jobs.

Delegates looked at similar schemes in Denmark, the US and the Middle East to see what would be the best model for a UK ecopark.

Two companies are in talks with business leaders in the region with a view to becoming the first tenants.

Dermot Roddy, of Renew Tees Valley, said plans were in their early stages, but the scheme looked "very likely" to happen.

"The conference went very well," he said. "A lot of people left thinking: 'Yes, we can do this'.

"There are two types of benefits in bringing recycling companies together.

"One is that they get the feedstock - or the material for recycling - to just one place.

"For instance, if you bring in cars for recycling, all the different companies can take their feedstock from that car - the specialists in different areas, such as glass, metal, plastics and soft furnishings.

"At the moment, white goods, glass, paper and so on all get taken to miscellaneous recycling centres, then sent on to the specialist companies.

"But with this, everything can go straight to the ecopark for recycling in one place.

"The other benefit is that it can be hard to get planning permission for recycling or waste management plants. But if you have one ecopark, it is just once place to get planning permission for.

"Recycling has a totally undeserved image of being a dirty activity. So if we can set aside an area of disused industrial land, of which there are many in the Tees Valley, instead of trying to get planning permission for lots of different industrial sites, we just need one.

"We will also be making sure that there is something on the site that generates electricity from renewable sources, and we would like to link in some kind of educational element, such as a visitors' centre."

Rather than building the park and then expecting environmental companies to set up there, Mr Roddy said he would be looking for an "anchor tenant" to attract other companies, allowing the park to grow organically.

Environmental companies in the North-East have a turnover of £1bn a year, recycling 15 per cent of all waste.

However, the Government has set a target of 30 per cent by 2010, which would double the region's environmental turnover to £2bn.