The investment in Gloucestershire-based Oakside Logistics is the first made by the Waste and Resources Action Programme through its 5.5 million Recycling Fund.
Oakside provides its motor dealer customers with help in complying with the End of Life Vehicles Directive and the Hazardous Waste Directive through the collection and managing of their waste.
The Recycling Fund is managed on behalf of WRAP by Impax Asset Management, with funding from WRAP, the Wastelink Group and Barclays. The fund will now have a 23% stake in Oakside Logistics. Impax has also brought in a 150,000 investment to Oakside from the The South West Regional Venture Capital Fund, which will have a 10% stake in the business.
Richard Brown, Oakside Logistics managing director, said: “We are delighted to have secured this funding which will enable us to grow our business. We help our customers across the country recycle a range of waste materials and prevent these materials ending up in landfill.
“We will be able to recover an extra 1750 tonnes of paper packaging and 800 tonnes of plastic components such as bumpers each year as a result of this investment,” he added.
Director
The Recycling Fund has provided the company with a non-executive director – Richard Crocker – to act for the Fund. Mr Crocker has also invested in the business to provide the company with additional funds.
Marion Bernard, Senior Investment Manager at Impax, said: “We look forward to working closely with Oakside's management team to expand this important recycling service for the automotive sector.
“Oakside is at an exciting phase of its redevelopment. We are extremely pleased that the Recycling Fund has been able to provide the financial support required for the business to move forward to its next stage of growth,” she said.
WRAP chairman Vic Cocker said that research has suggested that the recycling sector will require approximately 6 billion of investment in reprocessing capacity alone over the next 15 years if the UK is to meet recycling targets.
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