Business Briefs: fridges, renewable energy, Welsh water, waste, and water company expansion

In this week’s UK Business Briefs, another fridge recycling plant opens in the UK, Scotland receives £100 million loan for renewable energy, Glas Cymru appears to be a success, a £10 million waste contract in Bradford, a wastewater treatment company states that it is to expand, and a new publication on public participation in decision-making is launched.


MeWa Recycling Maschinen und Anlagenbau GmbH in Germany has announced that one of its fridge recycling plants, operated by SimsMetal UK Ltd, will be officially opened in Newport on 1 July. In the first half of 2002 MeWa sold three of its Hurricane plants to major UK customers, with the ability to process up to 300,000 cooling units per year.

The European Commission has announced that the European Investment Bank has approved a loan of £100 million to Scottish and Southern Energy for the establishment and modernisation of renewable energy generating facilities in Scotland. The project involves the construction of seven new wind farms and the refurbishment of 24 hydroelectric power stations dating from the 1930s and ‘70s.

According to international market research company, Frost and Sullivan, the Welsh water company, Glas Cymru, has had a successful first year as a not-for-profit water business. The company has published its first set of full year financial figures and shown a profit of £73 million on sales revenues of £406 million.

Waste Recycling Group has won a £10 million contract for the disposal of a minimum of 160,000 tonnes per year of municipal solid waste from Bradford Council. The contract begins on 1 July and will run for six years, with a two-year option for extension.

Back in the world of water, the Aquator Group, formed from a successful management buy-out from Wessex Water last year, has announced that it is set for expansion beyond its current stomping ground, which includes Australia, the Middle East, Israel, Tunisia, Turkey and South Africa. Celebrating the company’s past successes, particularly wastewater management in Australia and the development of the Kubota flat sheet membrane for the Japanese Government, the group emphasises the importance of effective wastewater management in the modern world.

Finally, the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) has published its guidance on the involvement of third parties in a range of environmental decision-making processes. Guidelines on participation in environmental decision-making is designed to offer advice on how to achieve effective participation and, amongst other things, provides practical examples of what has been achieved through the use of public participation to illustrate current and best practice.

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