This initial VC investment in Vertal will help the company complete construction of its first facility in South East London and accelerate plans for a further nine plants throughout the UK.

Giles Whitman, an investment manager at Foresight who led the transaction for the firm, says, ‘Vertal is typical of the sorts of businesses we are looking to invest in, backing experienced management teams to build and operate networks of local recycling and power generation facilities.

‘We believe [these] are more environmentally sustainable than larger centralised facilities.’

The company, whose technology converts food waste into fertiliser, is led by founder and MD Leon Mekitarian. Nigel Aitchison, a partner at Foresight, will join Vertal’s board.

Some 15 million tonnes of food waste are sent to landfill in the UK every year, according to figures cited by Foresight, while pressure on local authorities to recycle more has increased.