Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

Recology is seeking £2m investment to launch a hi-tech wood composite, manufactured from recycled materials. The Norfolk based company will manufacture the product from post-industrial polypropylene films and sawmill residues using licensed Japanese technology.

The wood polymer composite product will initially be aimed at the modular outdoor furniture, with applications including decking, seating, trellis and fencing.

It is hoped that full production will commence next year at a new factory in Norfolk, the location of which has not yet been disclosed.

According to the government-funded Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), similar composite products have been successfully marketed in the USA securing an almost 10 per cent share of the £6bn a year US decking market.

There is not yet a viable wood composite product available in the European market, so Recology is hoping to press home the advantage of a market lead both in the UK and on the Continent.

WRAP, through its business development service is helping the company to raise the £2m investment required to launch the business and the product.

It undertook a full review of Recology’s business plan and has part-funded the preparation of a prospectus on the company for distribution to potential sources of equity investment.

Recology’s prospectus has since been introduced to a number of private equity investors, which has led to “productive and promising talks.”

Niels Oleson, founder of Recology, said: “WRAP was enthusiastic about this project from our first meeting. At a time when I was obtaining some daunting quotations from my accountants, lawyers and business advisors, the financial assistance from WRAP was a terrific help in propelling the new company forward.”

WRAP has also part-funded the product through a testing and certification programme at the Building Research Establishment (BRE). Recology is now working to set benchmark standards for wood polymer composites in Europe. The total value of WRAP’s support for the company to date is around £14k.

North Sea oil and gas have traditionally been the cornerstone of the energy sector in the East of England, particularly in Norfolk and the Waveney area of Suffolk.

However, with the increasing scarcity of these fuels and concern for the environment, the emphasis has shifted to alternative sources of renewable energy.

The East of England has leveraged the intellectual capital at its disposal to become a pace setter in a range of green technologies including biomass, solar and wind energy.

Among the most notable green technology projects is the straw fired power station in Ely – the UK’s first and the world’s largest and most efficient straw fired power station.

The £60m, 36MW facility consumes around 200,000 tonnes of straw generating 271.5 GWh of electricity per annum which is enough to supply 80,000 homes.

Similarly innovative, Global Commodities UK at Dereham in Norfolk is involved in the recycling of cooking oil from local takeaways to power cars. Home to several world-leading universities, the region also boast specialist centres that focus on areas essential to renewable energy.

The University of Cambridge, for example, is working on the world’s largest solar-hydrogen energy demonstration project and the first in the UK.

• Norfolk Mental Health Care NHS Trust, whose HQ is in Norwich is receiving £69k from the DTI’s £20m major photovoltaic demonstration programme to generate power from solar energy.

The Trust is building the new acute mental health unit at Northgate Hospital in Great Yarmouth, due for completion in March 2005.

It will incorporate a number of environmental features including solar hot water, rainwater harvesting, natural lighting and ventilation and green construction materials including some cedar cladding and part-recycled aluminium famed windows.