Manchester-based Mercury Recycling has been listed on the Alternative Investments Market of the London Stock Exchange since 2001. It has now expanded its operations to achieve national coverage by purchasing London-based Simister which manufactures lamp recycling equipment and offers a full recycling service for lamps.
Simon Lebor, chief executive of Mercury Recycling, said: “We are delighted with this acquisition. It will give the group the ability to offer customers in both the North and South of the country a fast, efficient and safe disposal service. We will also enjoy substantially increased capacity at a time when new environmental legislation will trigger a considerable increase in demand for our services.”
Simister's main national schemes are Disposa-Lamp, a lamp disposal service, and Recyca-Lamp, which collects lamps to be processed through its latest recycling unit, the 3000R, which can process 10 million lamps a year. Key members of Simister's team will be joining the Mercury group, including managing director Bryan Neill.
Mr Neill said: “This is an ideal move for both companies. The merger makes a perfect fit and I am confident that the enlarged group is poised to become the dominant force in this key area of recycling.”
Through this acquisition Mercury Recycling is gearing up for next year when new UK legislation will introduce restrictions on the disposal of fluorescent tubes and other lamps. From next year, lamps containing mercury or other heavy metals will be classified as hazardous waste restricting other disposal routes under the Hazardous Waste Regulations.
Also, the European Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive has set a target for December 2006 which requires a minimum of 80% by weight of gas discharge lamps to be reused or recycled. Mercury Recycling is already recycling most of the material it handles and is implementing tracking paperwork that meets the audit demands of the Directive.
Mercury Recycling's plant can process nearly 3,000 fluorescent tubes an hour, removing the mercury from the glass for re-use and rendering the crushed glass and metal parts safe for recycling.
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