WasteCare Group has acquired the East Kent High Temperature Incinerator at Discovery Park, Sandwich, from hazardous waste specialist Augean, in a transaction worth up to £3.4 million.

The 10,000 tonnes-per-year capacity facility handles hard-to-treat material including clinical wastes, controlled drugs, laboratory chemicals and reactive wastes, which require high temperature incineration of up to 1,200oC to ensure complete destruction.

East Kent is one of three high-temperature incinerators in operation in the UK. As well as secure destruction, the facility also converts energy into recovered steam which is returned back to the energy supply chain.

The East Kent High Temperature Incinerator at Discovery Park, Sandwich Augean bought the nine-acre site from Pfizer in 2014, but announced in December that it was seeking a buyer for the facility, which was loss-making in 2017 and 2018.

WasteCare has paid an initial £1 million for the plant, with the remaining £2.35 million due within three months. The existing staff will transfer over to WasteCare immediately.

‘Impressed’

Commenting on the acquisition WasteCare Group Chairman, Peter Hunt, said: “Previously, as a customer, we were very impressed with the team and the high standards that we witnessed on site. We plan to build upon this to deliver additional treatment capacity and additional services over the coming months.

“Our growth and success have been as a result of putting our clients at the centre of our operation combined with continuous investment in innovation and we see this as the final piece of the jigsaw, to provide our customers a certified zero to landfill undertaking.”

The acquisition is part of a total £5 million investment by WasteCare in its operations. In recent years the company has acquired Veolia’s physico-chemical treatment facility in Liverpool (see letsrecycle.com story), along with both Greif Inc’s thermal treatment operation in Avonmouth and the BatteryBack compliance business in 2016 .

WasteCare Group now has over 500 staff operating across 17 facilities in the UK, with a capacity to collect and recycle over 60,000 tonnes of hazardous and difficult waste.

WasteCare Group now has over 500 staff operating across 17 facilities in the UK, with a capacity to collect and recycle over 60,000 tonnes of hazardous and difficult waste annually.