UK waste recycling technology company Sterecycle launches £200m expansion drive with new equity

15 June 2009

UK waste recycling technology company Sterecycle has announced a £200m expansion programme. As part of the programme, the company is raising £50m in new equity capital from institutional investors.

Sterecycle plans to build and operate five new recycling plants around the UK, increasing its total capacity to handle unsorted household and commercial waste to approximately 1.5 million tones.

The expansion follows the ramp-up of processing capacity at Sterecycle’s initial autoclave waste recycling plant in Rotherham, Yorkshire – the world’s first commercial-scale facility that applies steam to separate and recycle unsorted household waste. The plant, built on a former British Steel works, commenced operations last June. Its capacity is being increased up to 200,000 tonnes a year, following a successful planning application in January 2009. Using proprietary technology, Sterecycle’s recycling plant is able to divert 70 per cent of residual waste away from landfill, converting unsorted household waste into a variety of reusable materials and an organic compost-like material.

Demand for Sterecycle’s recycling technology and services is increasing as local authorities come under intense pressure to meet UK and European Union directives to reduce landfill use or face the threat of heavy financial penalties. In addition, the recent UK budget means that landfill tax will increase to £72 per tonne by 2013.

Since its foundation in 2003, the company has raised a total of £23m in equity finance, with funds coming from institutional investors including Goldman Sachs, Fidelity International, Impax Environmental and Ailsa3Ventures.

Duncan Grierson, chief executive and founder of Sterecycle, said, ‘We are delighted to announce a bold growth strategy as local authorities increasingly seek innovative solutions to reduce landfill use for disposing of unsorted waste. The investment will increase our total number of plants to six and will create 300 new jobs across Britain. The fact that we are raising £50m in a tough economic climate is a reflection of our confidence in Sterecycle’s novel technology and long-term prospects.’

Sterecycle builds, owns and operates waste plants, charging gate fees per tonne for processing waste as a substitute for landfill.

16 million tonnes of municipal waste are landfilled every year in the UK. The British government is committed to reducing landfill and has increased Landfill Tax from £12 per tonne in 2003 to £40 per tonne in 2009, which will continue to increase by £8 per tonne each year to 2013 when it will reach a total of £72 per tonne. The Institute of Civil Engineers has estimated that over £10bn of infrastructure investment is required by 2015 in order to meet the diversion targets of the EU Landfill Directive.

Copyright © 2009 NewNet

Tags: recycling, waste

This story was published on Monday, June 15th, 2009 at 10:39 am and is filed under Europe, companies, energy efficiency. You can follow any responses to article entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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