The Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council's application now goes to WA Environment Minister Albert Jacob for a final decision.

The plant, to be co-located at the existing EMRC-operated Hazelmere Recycling Centre about 14km northeast of Perth, would take shredded clean wood such as timber offcuts, shipping pallets, crates and cable reels that would otherwise be disposed to landfill and heat it in a kiln.

Using the Ansac pyrolysis technology the plant will produce syngas to power eight 500 kilowatt gas engines for power generation.

It will be used to process 13,000 tonnes of timber every year in order to generate enough electricity to power 10,000 homes.

The facility would not be able to use Copper Chrome Arsenate treated wood nor manufactured wood containing glues as feedstock for the plant.

A biochar by-product may be used for productive use such as in agriculture, soil improvement, carbon sequestration, and brick manufacturing.

Some 126 submissions were made during the EPA assessment project, with many expressing concerns about the adequacy of the background air quality monitoring, claims about the efficacy of the technology, and the suitability of the proposed location, being in close proximity to residents with the potential to impact on air quality, amenity, and public health of surrounding residents.

The EPA's earlier Independent Peer Review Panel identified some matters which needed resolution, including the fact that the efficiency of the syngas reformer had not been proven for smaller units, and there was a technical risk associated with the reformer unit.

There were also some concerns that the modified design of the pyrolysis technology has not been fully tested.

The EMRC went back and improved its design with a two-stage web scrubber and has since proven that the small scale of the project will work.

Having considered the data the EPA has concluded that the proposed technology meets its requirements for a waste to energy plant of the type EMRC wants to build.

If constructed, the EMRC's $25 million facility could be WA's first waste to energy plant.

The EMRC works on behalf of six councils in Perth's east, including Swan, Bassendean and Belmont.