The government appointed the panel after a flood of concerns from nearby residents and others about Foy's application to build a plant to convert non-recyclable plastic to diesel and petrol.

Foy says it will be the first factory of its kind in the world. Technical director Bevan Dooley said while other operators are using pyrolysis to crack plastics back to a synthetic crude oil or "blendstock", they have not taken the extra step to convert it to road-ready fuel.

"That's the key to it, really, that we can produce Australian-standard petrol and diesel, we're doing it without pulling any more fossil fuels out of the ground, we're doing it by reducing landfill," managing director Stuart Clark said.

But in its terms of reference for the export panel, the government says Foy's proposal includes "untested hypotheses which leave a level of uncertainty on the extent of the impacts" given it was unprecedented in Australia.

It wants the panel to report on possible sterilisation of surrounding land and possible health impacts on nearby residents.

It has also asked the panel to look at comparable developments and at the approach of other jurisdictions. It wants to know more about the technology proposed and the potential for industrial accidents.

Foy welcomes the inquiry, saying it is confident the "process will come to a conclusion reasonably quickly and that we'll be operational fairly soon".

Foy was knocked back in its bid to open similar plant at Berkeley Vale on the central NSW coast. Asked why it had turned to Canberra, Mr Clark said the ACT had "the most clear path".

"The inquiry panel, the public consultation, those are good things, they give us clarity for the next step. We know there are only so many questions that can be asked and we know we've got the answers to them."

The Foy plant would "bring a solution to a worldwide problem that Canberra can be proud of", he said, reducing reliance on fossil fuels, reducing landfill, putting a value on plastic so less was dumped, and producing Australian fuel.

"It's not noisy, smoke is not billowing out, it's clear dry plastic going in, it's not rubbish and what we're getting at the other end is petrol and diesel, which most people deal with all the time."

Mr Dooley said Foy's emissions estimates were modelled on the NSW government's "group 6" limits, as instructed by the ACT government, and he insisted it would be safe.

"I can hold my hand on my heart and say there will no hydrocarbons, we destroy them in our combustion system ... you're talking levels that are almost undetectable," he said.

"... It's just a matter of technology, there's zero doubt, it works in terms of meeting emissions criteria, zero doubt."

Mr Dooley said Foy had technology to solve two key stumbling blocks in plastics-to-fuel proposals - removing impurities from the diesel, which in Foy's process were returned to the kiln and further refined, and dealing with residue, which could block equipment, requiring regular cleaning, which increased downtime and exposed workers.

"Once you stop that occurring it means you do not open the equipment for years at a time …. and when you don't open that equipment it means that you don't have any risk of contaminating the environment and exposing people," he said.

Residues were returned to the kiln, and what remains was sealed and taken to landfill, with about 1 per cent of the volume of plastic coming into the plant ending up as residue that must be dumped. Foy plans to process 200 tonnes of plastic a day.

The expert panel is headed by former director of hazardous incidents and environmental health at the NSW Environment Protection Authority Craig Lamberton and a former chief public health officer in South Australia, Dr Stephen Christley.

It has invited feedback by email. It holds a March 6 drop-in session at the Tuggeranong Arts Centre, 3pm-6pm, and a March 7 public hearing at the Tuggeranong Community Centre, 1.30pm and 4.30pm. Details.