Autoclave firm Sterecycle secures 10m in funding

The £10 million was raised from a number of existing and new investors and is intended, in part, to go towards adding 100,000 tonnes-a-year of capacity to its Rotherham autoclave facility. It will also go towards bolstering a £200 million planned expansion of Sterecycle's operations over the next three years.

The Rotherham autoclave facility, which became operational in August 2008, is used to treat commercial waste, as well as residual waste from Doncaster council and Barnsley and Rotherham metropolitan borough councils. Sterecycle intends to double its capacity by late 2010.

Duncan Grierson, founder of Sterecycle, said: “This latest round confirms that, despite the challenging economic environment, there is considerable interest in waste treatment technology. Our proven process, now operating at commercial scale for over 18 months, is ripe for rolling out around the UK.”

Sterecycle has, to date, raised £34 million in private equity funding to help cover the cost of its operations. Previous investors include investment bank Goldman Sachs and asset management business Fidelity International.

A spokesman for the company said it was unable to divulge the exact details of the latest round of investors as some had asked for their involvement not to be disclosed.

Sterecycle is currently developing a 200,000 tonnes-a-year capacity autoclave facility at a site to the east of Cardiff.

The £50 million plant is expected to be operational by spring 2011 and was backed by Cardiff councillors at the same time as they rejected plans by waste management firm Viridor to build a large-scale combined heat and power plant in an industrial area of the Welsh capital (see letsrecycle.com story).

Chief executive

The announcement of the latest funding round was coupled with the autoclave firm unveiling Tom Shields as its new chief executive. Mr Shields, who has over 30 years experience in the chemical sector, was previously managing director of Grangemouth-based agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals specialist KemFine UK.

Mr Shields has also previously worked as manufacturing director at biotechnology firm Avecia and as head of Zeneca Engineering in Delaware in the United States. Mr Shields replaces Duncan Grierson as chief executive, who now becomes a non-executive director.

Commenting on the appointment, Mr Grierson said: “The UK waste sector is becoming a sophisticated process engineering industry, akin to the chemicals sector which is also highly regulated and with heavy capital investment requirements, so Tom's experience is ideally suited to helping us manage the company's growth.”