Swindon Carriageworks: Uni has plan for recycling and eco tech hub

The units will be converted so they can house the university research hub

Empty units at a former railway building could be used as a research hub to improve plastics recycling and develop "clean growth" technologies.

Part of the GWR Carriage Works in Swindon, Wiltshire, has already been turned into offices for tech start-ups.

Now the University of Bath is hoping to set up its Innovation Centre for Applied Sustainable Technologies at the site.

Swindon Borough councillors are set to decide on the plans by October.

The university's researchers hope to develop ways of growing the economy while reducing carbon emissions and any harmful impact on the environment, through the use of technology - this term is known as "clean growth".

A University of Bath spokesperson said: "Our ambition is to become a research and development and collaboration hub for companies working on clean growth technologies.

'Drive green growth'

"A place where they can easily partner with academic strength to enable scale-up and commercial delivery, generate economic impact, build supply chains, create jobs and drive green growth in the UK and overseas."

The centre is being set up in collaboration with The University of Oxford.

The application is the third phase of the borough council's regeneration of the building.

The first phase involved converting of two units into the Work Shed and rentable offices for tech start-ups, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

The Royal Agricultural University will also soon to move its Cultural Heritage Institute into Unit 11, with classes for post-graduate students due to start this autumn.