Oyster and AES invest in waste recycling system

An investment fund headed by Mr Bill McCabe, the entrepreneur who made €65 million from selling his stake in technology company SmartForce, has entered into a €10 million joint venture with a private sector waste management company.

Mr McCabe's Oyster Technology Investments has joined forces with Advanced Environmental Solutions (AES) to sell a new waste recycling system to local authorities and businesses. The two companies are investing €10 million in the project.

The business will sell a process developed by a Swedish company, Bedminster, for dealing with organic waste. The system turns the waste into compost that can then be sold as agricultural fertiliser. The company said yesterday the system was already used in 10 countries worldwide.

The joint venture is called Bedminster International. Under the terms of the deal, Oyster will provide the system while AES will provide the waste stream. The investment will be used to build the necessary plant for the waste- processing system.

The company has already briefed local authorities and other potential customers. The initial Bedminster facility will be capable of dealing with 50,000 tonnes a year of municipal waste. Bedminster International is selling the system as an alternative to landfill and incineration.

Mr McCabe bought the global rights to the Bedminster system last year, and also purchased a 50 per cent stake in a landfill operator, Waste Options, in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in the US, which uses the technology.

Mr Patrick Alley and several other business people from the midlands established AES three years ago. Since then it has spent over €50 million acquiring 15 other businesses and invested a further €15 million in upgrading its sites. AES currently employs 206 people and manages over 340,000 tonnes of waste a year.

Its last available balance sheet, for June 30th 2002, shows it had total assets of €16.5 million. The accounts also reveal the company raised €11.2 million during the previous year through the issue of 1.2 million company shares.

Mr Pearse O'Kane, Bedminster International's chief executive, said "the prime objective of this joint venture is to create a new dynamic in the waste industry in Ireland".