Traditionally the waste management company, which has more than 75,000 municipal and commercial customers, has been renowned for its collection services and its large landfill base. This is now all set to change under chief executive Andre Horbach who was appointed in June 2008.
One of the roles for me is to transform the company
Andre Horbach, chief executive, BIffa
Mr Horbach brings with him an international background and substantial experience in the plastics division of global firm GE where he was appointed chief executive in 2002. He later joined Suzlon, a wind engineering and energy business where he was heavily involved with renewable energy. At Biffa he is charged with delivering a new strategy for owners Montagu Private Equity and Global Infrastructure Partners who bought the company in May this year for £1.2 billion.
This has seen substantial internal changes from depot level to head office and a number of senior managers and directors have left the company. Its head office has moved from High Wycombe to new premises near the NEC in Birmingham, although the Wycombe base will remain as a significant operational centre.
Resource
In taking up the reins at Biffa, Mr Horbach told letsrecycle.com that the company has to look at waste as a valuable resource, in terms of recycling and energy. To achieve Biffa will move some municipal and commercial waste away from landfill and it plans overall to have fewer landfill sites, with the ones that it continues to operate being branded “star sites”.
He explained: “One of the roles for me is to transform the company. Biffa is traditionally a waste company which aims to have a very strong collection arm nationwide – it touches customers with a very strong front-end service.”
Timeframe
Looking ahead, he said that the waste sector is a fast changing environment: “Lots of changes will happen in the years to come.” And, he pointed to a specific timeframe for changing the company: “A very defined time window: the next two years.”
The most radical change for Biffa will be if it goes down the energy from waste route in other areas rather than landfill gas. Mr Horbach said that this could see the company building large incinerators using moving grate technology. “Historically a large part of the energy side has been incineration and this will have a future role and we will play a part in it.”
Incineration
Locations for the incinerators have not yet been chosen but the company is looking at all major population centres, including Birmingham and London. Besides incineration, the company is also looking at other processes including gasification and anaerobic digestion. Mr Horbach said: “I see us in the next two years at Biffa kicking off several MRF, AD and gasification projects.”
Despite all the talk of energy, the business will remain active in recycling and seek to expand. Mr Horbach suggested that large-scale facilities are likely and he is not daunted by the recent crash in the value of recyclable materials.
He said: “Yes, in recent weeks recycling prices have dropped, although I am sure those will recover over time. Three billion people in China and India in the long-term will want their share of resources – there are not going to be enough materials coming out of mines to meet this demand.”
Shareholders
As for the shareholders in the businesss, Mr Horbach said they are very supportive of the new strategy and also can offer valuable support skills to Biffa as well as technology such as that held by GE, which has a stake in Global Infrastructure Partners.
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