News in Brief – 18/12/19
Enovert secures garden waste contract with Gloucestershire County Council
Enovert has secured a seven-year contract to provide garden waste treatment services to Gloucestershire County Council.
Under the terms of the contract, which will begin in February 2020, Enovert will handle approximately 30,000 tonnes of garden waste each year, comprising separately-collected household garden waste and garden waste collected at recycling centres in Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Borough areas and Gloucester and Stroud District areas.
Enovert will treat the garden waste at the company’s two established open windrow composting facilities in Gloucestershire – Hempsted in Gloucester and Wingmoor Farm in Bishops Cleeve.
Mark Silvester, CEO of Enovert, said: “We are thrilled to have been awarded this service contract by Gloucestershire County Council. Our facilities will produce compost that meets end-of-waste criteria and the requirements of BSI:PAS 100 and will make an important contribution to the County’s recycling performance. We look forward to continuing our longstanding relationships with Gloucestershire County Council and the District Councils involved.”
Wayne Lewis, Head of Waste for Gloucestershire County Council, added: “The new contract will ensure that garden waste continues to be managed in accordance with our Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy and the waste hierarchy. The composting of garden waste provides the best solution in terms of environmental impact, offsetting the use of chemical-based fertilisers and helping to improve soil structure.
“The composting of garden waste across the county contributes around 18 per cent to Gloucestershire’s recycling rate.”
You can find more information on Enovert’s website.
Keenan Recycling secures funding from Zero Waste Scotland
Organic waste recycling company Keenan Recycling has been granted £540,000 from Zero Waste Scotland’s Circular Economy Investment Fund – an £18-million fund providing investment for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) based in Scotland in support of projects that will boost the circular economy.
Keenan Recycling will use the funding to expand and improve its approach to collecting and turning organic waste into green energy from its new site in Linwood, which currently processes 100,000 tonnes of organic waste a year.
Operations Director Gregor Keenan explained: “We have always been passionate about having complete control of the waste material we are handling: from the moment it’s collected, through to processing. When we collect the waste, we have a chance to look in the bin and check its quality before passing it to our sites in New Deer and now Linwood. This ensures that there’s no contamination, which is a huge issue for AD plants. Any contamination results in a thick layer of non-organic material which has no gas-making potential and therefore reduces the profit of the operation to convert it into green energy.
“Gas derived from our biofuel is used to create electricity, gas to grid and heat. After this stage a clean material called digestate is produced which can then be used as a biofertiliser; free of contamination, ensuring a quality product for the end-user.”
Louise McGregor, Head of Circular Economy at Zero Waste Scotland, said: “The circular economy seeks to eliminate all waste by keeping materials in circulation for as long as possible. By increasing efforts to salvage more organic waste, Keenan Recycling is making best use of resources that could have otherwise ended up in landfill. This is made even more important by the fact that food waste harms the environment as it gives off methane, a potent greenhouse gas, when left to rot.
“We’d encourage more businesses to get in touch with Zero Waste Scotland for support with innovative projects that reduce waste. Taking a sustainable approach will be beneficial for the planet and your business.”
For more information visit Keenan Recycling’s website.
Tradebe Healthcare opens clinical waste treatment facility
Tradebe Healthcare has opened a new clinical waste treatment site at Bellshill, near Glasgow, to support the waste management requirements for Scotland’s NHS Health Boards, whilst also servicing private hospitals, GPs, dentists, nursing homes, veterinary clinics, beauticians and tattooists.
The treatment site has the capacity to process over 80 tonnes of clinical waste every day, operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The new site adds to the company’s network of treatment sites across the UK, with other facilities in Wrexham, Redditch, Rochester, Avonmouth and Fawley.
Lynne King, Divisional Director for Tradebe Healthcare, commented: “With a nine-month turnaround, we’ve found the right location, got the necessary planning permission and environmental permits, hired and trained staff, transformed the building and site, installed the processing technology, built our collection fleet and procured consumables. We are now ready to start treating waste from across the whole of Scotland.
“Creating a new facility from scratch on these timescales has at times been challenging but we’re now looking forward to our future in Scotland and building long-lasting, trusted partnerships with our customers, suppliers and the local community.
“As a well-established, experienced UK clinical waste business and in line with the Scottish Government’s zero waste plan, we are focused on driving sustainability and innovation throughout the industry in Scotland.”
You can find more information on Tradebe Healthcare’s website.
ThinCats supports Andusia with management buy-out funding
Funding provider ThinCats has provided Andusia with financial support for its management buy-out, allowing key staff to become minority shareholders in the business.
ThinCats was introduced to Andusia by Ryan Shields, Associate Director of Corporate Finance at Grant Thornton.
Steve Burton, Director at Andusia, explained: “When we celebrated exporting our millionth tonne of RDF in 2018, we knew that we had reached the scale needed to expand further into the energy-from-waste sector. So we were delighted to be introduced to ThinCats, who quickly created a funding package to meet our specific needs. The funding will help us further align key staff with the business as we pursue ambitious expansion plans in the UK and continental Europe.”
Kash Moghul, Director of Regional Business Development at ThinCats, said: “Andusia is a fascinating business, working in a vital sector and providing an innovative solution to the constant issue of waste management.
“Andusia has an excellent leadership team and we are delighted that the transaction will enable key staff to have a greater shareholding in the business. Finding new ways to reduce the environmental impact of landfill is a challenge affecting all of us, so we wish Andusia every success with their plans for the future.”
For more information visit the Andusia website.
Geminor opens office in Toulouse
Resource management company Geminor has opened an office in Portet-sur-Garonne, near Toulouse, to meet the demands of the growing French market.
Kai Schopwinkel, Account and Development Manager at Geminor, will take charge of the new French office, having worked for Geminor since 2013.
Schopwinkel explained: “The French waste industry has long been dominated by landfill. Today, approximately 20 per cent of French waste is sent to incineration. As much as one third of this waste is incinerated with no energy recovery.
“The authorities have set a goal of 100 per cent recycling of plastics by 2025 – one of a few moves to match the EU’s targets for a more complete circular economy. It is expected that as much as 10 million tonnes of waste will be redirected from landfill to recycling and energy recovery in the coming five years.
“At the moment, the French market is mainly about waste wood and paper products, which is where we will put our efforts and focus in the time to come.”
Kjetil Vikingstad, CEO of Geminor, commented: “We aim to establish our services in France and make the industry players a part of our international partner network. At the moment there are small volumes going out of the country, but in time we see the potential for considerable export of SRF, RDF and waste wood.
“France has a great potential for transferring waste from landfill to more sustainable options, such as material and energy recycling. Our goal is to contribute to this market transition in the years to come.”
You can find out more about Geminor on the company’s website.
