The Fund is managed by The Premier Group (Isle of Man) Limited (‘Premier’), an Isle of Man-based fund group, in conjunction with New Earth Solutions Group Limited (‘New Earth’), a leading British waste treatment and renewable energy specialist.

David Whitaker, Director at Premier said: “We are delighted that the Fund has reached this milestone in a little over three years. It is a unique proposition that enables investors to benefit from the growing interest in sustainable waste management practices and renewable energy. That momentum is reflected in the excellent returns delivered by the fund at a time when the financial markets are beset by volatility.”

*Source: The Premier Group

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Waste Treatment:
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New Earth Energy

Investments into the New Earth Solutions Recycling Facilities Investment Sub Fund (‘the Fund’), a unique recycling and composting fund are up 20 per cent, compared to the third quarter of 2011, and since it was launched in July 2008 the Fund has delivered total returns of 44.2 per cent.

The Fund is managed by The Premier Group (Isle of Man) Limited (‘Premier’), an Isle of Man-based fund group, in conjunction with New Earth Solutions Group Limited (‘New Earth’), a leading British waste treatment and renewable energy developer and operator.

According to Premier, the Fund is continuing to benefit from the requirement to reduce landfill disposal and a growing demand for waste management facilities across the UK, with new subscriptions running at around £4 million per month and almost £90 million under management.

The Fund invests in New Earth’s waste recycling and treatment facilities across the UK and enables investors to benefit from development and trading performance. Since it was launched, New Earth has grown to operating five plants across the UK, with 4.7 million tonnes of waste contracted through a portfolio of local authority contracts.

New Earth has recently opened its fifth and largest waste treatment facility at Avonmouth, near Bristol. The new 200,000 tonnes per annum Mechanical Biological Treatment (‘MBT’) facility extracts recyclables from residual waste and recovers other fractions for processing to produce soil conditioners and waste-derived fuels.

David Whitaker, Director at Premier said: “Investors appear to be attracted by the returns offered by the New Earth Solutions Recycling Facilities fund and the opportunity to invest directly into sustainable waste management practices. We believe that the continued focus on resource recovery will ensure that we are well placed to benefit from this trend going forward, which can only be good news for investors.

“We launched the Fund to provide investors with an opportunity to obtain long term capital growth by investing in proven, effective and efficient waste management schemes. This is a unique investment proposition which enables investment into progressive waste management and renewable energy projects.”

The Fund is a sub fund of the Premier Investment Opportunities Fund, which is quoted on the Channel Islands Stock Exchange, and qualifies as an investment within a UK Self Invested Personal Pension (‘SIPP’). It is only available to qualifying investors with a minimum investment of £10,000 (or currency equivalent) if held directly or £5,000 (or currency equivalent) if held in a life assurance bond.

New Earth is experienced in designing, building, financing and operating waste treatment facilities across the UK and has constructed waste treatment capacity of over 400,000 tonnes per annum, with around 4.5 million tonnes of waste under contract over the next 25 years.

The refinancing of the £28.5 million (inclusive of funding costs) Avonmouth facility sees £20 million of senior debt introduced into the project at a gearing level of 70%. The incoming senior debt was provided on a 50:50 basis by Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale (“NORD/LB”) in partnership with The Co-operative Bank plc (“The Co-operative Bank”).

Following completion of the Avonmouth refinancing, NORD/LB and The Co-operative Bank have now jointly provided £50 million of senior debt to New Earth’s five operational waste treatment facilities across the UK and remain supportive in funding further New Earth projects.

The Avonmouth waste treatment facility was originally funded through equity and junior debt provided by infrastructure investment funding sourced from New Earth Recycling & Renewables (Infrastructure) plc (“NERR”) together with New Earth’s own equity investment.

With its partners, Premier Group (Isle of Man) Limited, New Earth has established two open-ended investment funds targeted at experienced investors and institutional funds that invest exclusively into New Earth and its projects through NERR. To-date these funds have raised in excess of £80 million of cumulative subscriptions since summer 2008.

The re-financing will enable NERR to reinvest the proceeds of the refinancing into New Earth’s upcoming waste treatment and renewable energy projects. Chris Cox, Managing Director of New Earth said, “Our innovative funding strategy with The Premier Group and the availability of cash from the New Earth investment funds has been critical to New Earth’s growth from one facility in 2008 to five today. We are delighted to have completed this refinancing during turbulent times for the global financial markets”.

“This transaction reinforces our long-standing relationship with NORD/LB and establishes a fresh one with The Co-operative Bank. We look forward to working with both banks on future projects”.

John Hanley, Director of Structured Finance at NORD/LB said, “As a long term financing partner to New Earth with a relationship dating back to 2007, NORD/LB was pleased to be involved in the refinancing of the recently commissioned Avonmouth plant within the scope of the existing portfolio of projects which we have been involved with since their inception. The Avonmouth project marks a significant development in the evolution of the New Earth offering and the re-financing enhances the portfolio of projects and strengthens the relationship between New Earth and NORD/LB”.

Andrew Sykes, Senior Manager at The Co-operative Bank, said: “We’re delighted to provide finance to New Earth Solutions to further develop their services in providing sustainable waste management in support of the UK’s landfill diversion targets. We look forward to building our relationship with the company and provide further support as demand for its services grows further. This illustrates how, despite tough economic conditions, The Co-operative Bank continues to lend to businesses with impressive strategies and which dovetail with the Bank’s ethos”.

New Earth’s Avonmouth facility is expected to become a strategic regional site for both waste treatment and renewable energy recovery. New Earth has recently commenced construction of a renewable energy facility on its site at Avonmouth which, when complete, will generate up to 7.5MW of electricity, equivalent to meeting the needs of 13,000 homes. The plant will employ advanced thermal conversion technologies to recover low-carbon renewable energy from refusederived fuel produced at the adjacent waste treatment facility.

The Avonmouth waste treatment facility opened on schedule on 1st April 2011 and employs mechanical and biological processes to treat household and commercial residual waste. The facility has been developed to service New Earth’s residual waste management contract with the West of England Partnership, comprising the Unitary Councils of Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol City, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset. Under the terms of the nine year contract the Avonmouth facility will treat more than 120,000 tonnes per annum of residual household waste from the region. New Earth has also secured additional ‘top-up’ waste supply contracts for the facility.

New Earth Solutions' Managing Director, Chris Cox (left) with Sir Steve Redgrave CBE and Dave Whitaker, Director of investment fund manager Premier Group (Right).

Special guest Sir Steve Redgrave CBE formally opened the 200,000 tonnes per annum facility at a ceremony attended by representatives of the four Councils that comprise the West of England Partnership (WoEP), along with other New Earth customers, partners and suppliers.

The new facility has been developed to service New Earth’s residual waste management contract with WoEP, comprising the Unitary Councils of Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol City, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset. Under the terms of the nine-year contract the plant will treat each year in excess of 120,000 tonnes of residual household waste from the region, equivalent to enough wheelie bins to stretch side-by-side over 160 miles!

The plant employs various mechanical processes and composting treatments to divert residual waste away from landfill. Recyclables in the form of metals and plastics are extracted and the remaining fractions are either composted to produce a soil conditioner for land reclamation or processed to produce a refuse-derived fuel.
Construction of the Avonmouth plant was funded by The New Earth Solutions Recycling Facilities Investment Sub Fund (‘the Fund’), a unique waste and renewable energy infrastructure fund launched in July 2008 by The Premier Group (Isle of Man) Limited (‘Premier’), an Isle of Man-based fund group, in conjunction with New Earth.

Chris Cox, Managing Director of New Earth Solutions, said: “The opening of our fifth and largest waste treatment facility in Avonmouth is another major achievement for New Earth. The facility will ensure nearly all of the waste we process is diverted away from landfill in a progressive and sustainable way, and this will go a long way towards helping the West of England region to meet statutory recycling and landfill diversion targets.

Waste management targets, together with sharply escalating landfill taxes and attractive incentives for the generation of clean, renewable energy present exciting opportunities for New Earth and we have ambitious plans to roll out new waste treatment and renewable energy facilities across the Country over the next few years.”
New Earth has already gained planning permission for a renewable energy facility on its site at Avonmouth which, when complete, will generate 7.5MW of renewable electricity, equivalent to meeting the needs of 13,000 homes. The plant will employ advanced thermal conversion technologies to recover low-carbon renewable energy from refuse-derived fuel produced on-site. New Earth is beginning construction of the renewable energy facility in the autumn.

Cllr Peter Bryant, North Somerset Council’s executive member for environment and chair of the West of England Partnership Joint Waste Committee, said: “I am delighted to see the progress being made to deliver this contract. It represents a major commitment by the partnership to sustainable waste management which will divert household waste from landfill, while at the same time recovering additional recyclables and enabling renewable energy generation. We are very pleased to have this innovative and impressive facility in our region.”

Carbon dating is more commonly associated with archaeological research, enabling historians to accurately determine the age of an object by establishing the amount of the naturally occurring carbon-14 isotope present in the subject. This isotope declines at a known rate over the course of millennia. Biomass, a renewable fuel source will have a very different level of carbon-14 than, for example, plastic – a finite, fossil fuel-based compound.

The study undertaken proposed that sampling the flue gases of energy recovery plants would establish an accurate method of gathering information, as an alternative to the hand-sampling of fuel prior to its use. An independent report commissioned by Ofgem has concluded the technique as a reliable source of data on which to base the issuance of ROCs.

Chris Manson-Whitton, Head of Bioenergy at Progressive Energy commented “Waste derived fuels are a vital indigenous source of renewable energy for electricity, heat and ultimately transport fuels. We are very pleased that Ofgem has adopted this technique which will facilitate industry in unlocking this valuable resource”
The use of this technique will allow energy generators such as New Earth, who use waste-derived fuels which are rich in biogenic material, to manage their fuel measurement and sampling requirements effectively and claim valuable renewable obligation certificates (ROCs). These certificates are used to support renewable technologies such as gasification and pyrolysis being developed by New Earth and will also be used to measure the UK’s progress towards its renewable energy targets.

Alex Young, New Earth’s Energy Director and Chair of the REA’s Renewable Power Group, is happy with the results. “The principle of using the Carbon-14 technique to establish the biogenic fractions of material streams is not new, but we have proved conclusively that this method can be used under the Renewables Obligation. We are sure that there will be applications beyond the RO as the UK embraces other forms of renewable energy to achieve its renewable energy targets.”

Gaynor Hartnell, CEO of the REA said “I’d like to thank those members of the REA that clubbed together to support this long campaign. Thanks to their efforts, those generating green power from waste will now be able to claim the environmental premium they are entitled to.”

Ofgem will shortly release technical guidelines for use of the Carbon-14 technique across the industry where it is appropriate.

The contract involves the development of a new residual waste treatment facility, as well as the processing of mixed dry recyclables and composting of green waste. The service will cover around 65,000 tonnes of waste each year, of which approximately 45,000 tonnes will be treated using New Earth’s mechanical biological treatment (MBT) technology in a new state-of-the-art facility at the Council’s Easter Langlee site in Galashiels. The state-of-the-art facility will divert municipal waste from landfill in line with Scotland’s Zero Waste policy and assist in meeting the Council’s recycling targets through the recovery of recyclable materials such as metals and plastics.

The programme, from contract signing to the first treatment of residual waste at the new MBT facility, is scheduled to be 18 months, benefitting from New Earth’s proven capability in having major new waste infrastructure projects up and running quickly. New Earth is also responsible for the processing of the Council’s mixed dry recyclables and green waste through sub-contract arrangements. The residual waste treatment facility is due to be operational from October 2012.

Councillor Len Wyse, Executive Member for Environmental Services at Scottish Borders Council, said: “We are pleased to sign the contract today with New Earth Solutions following a two year procurement process for this new treatment plant. The contract will help Scottish Borders Council meet the legislative recycling and diversion targets of the Scottish Government and the European Union.”

New Earth has already achieved planning consent for the MBT facility at the Easter Langlee site with construction due to commence in September this year.

Foreground group, (L-R): Peter Mills (Development Director), New Earth; Chris Cox (Managing Director), New Earth; Cllr Bob Garner, North Somerset Council; Cllr Heather Goddard, South Gloucestershire Council; Cllr Charles Gerrish, Bath and North East Somerset Council; Cllr Gary Hopkins, Bristol City Council; Peter Golden (Construction Director) New Earth.

Executive Members of the four Councils that comprise the West of England Partnership witnessed construction progress on their site visit to New Earth Solutions’ new waste treatment and renewable energy facility in Avonmouth.

The 200,000 tonnes per annum facility is being developed to service New Earth Solutions’ residual waste management contract with the West of England Partnership, comprising the Councils of Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol City, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset, and to also treat other municipal and commercial wastes arising in the region.

Cllr Heather Goddard, Vice Chair of the West of England Partnership Joint Waste Committee, said “I and my fellow Members are delighted to see the progress being made to deliver this contract. It represents a major investment by the Partnership in sustainable waste management technology which will divert household waste from landfill, whilst at the same time recovering additional recyclables and producing a stabilised compost material for land reclamation. In due course the adjoining energy plant will generate much needed renewable electricity for use locally.”

New Earth Solutions gained planning permission for a mechanical biological treatment facility in November 2009 and was recently granted an additional permission for a renewable energy facility on the same footprint. By using a waste-derived fuel consisting of material that cannot be recycled and would otherwise be destined for landfill, the energy plant will generate 7.5MW of renewable electricity, equivalent to meeting the needs of 13,000 homes.

Chris Cox is Managing Director of New Earth Solutions: “It is a real pleasure to see this £26 million investment taking shape. The sustainable methods of waste treatment used at this facility, together with our other infrastructure in the area, provides a major boost to the region’s ability to meet obligations to recycle, recover renewable energy and divert waste from landfill.”

The facility will start to receive waste in April 2011 and will treat in excess of 120,000 tonnes of waste from the West of England Partnership in each year of the contract.

The contract, scheduled to be signed shortly, entails the development of a new residual waste treatment facility, as well as the processing of mixed dry recyclables and composting of green waste. The service will cover around 65,000 tonnes of waste each year, of which 45,000 tonnes will be treated using New Earth’s mechanical biological treatment technology in a new state-of-the-art facility at the Council’s Easter Langlee site in Galashiels. New Earth will be responsible for the processing of the Council’s mixed dry recyclables and green waste from April and the residual waste treatment facility is due to be operational from October 2012.

New Earth’s flexible approach supports the Scottish Borders Council’s drive to improve its recycling rate and divert waste away from landfill as part of its contribution to Scotland’s Zero Waste Plan.

Cllr Len Wyse, Executive Member for Environmental Services, at Scottish Borders Council commented, “We are extremely pleased that this milestone in the procurement process has been reached. It is anticipated that the contract will be awarded in Spring 2011, which will place Scottish Borders Council at the forefront of waste treatment within Scotland. The proposed facility will use leading technology to divert a majority of collected household waste from landfill and thereby minimise the future costs to Scottish Borders Council for dealing with waste.”

The 24-year contract will also include the provision of ‘green’ energy using New Earth’s Advanced Thermal Conversion technology to generate 3MW of low-carbon renewable electricity and heat, sufficient for around 3,000 homes and contributing to the region’s renewable energy targets.

New Earth Solutions’ Contracts Director, Richard Brooke, is delighted with the result, “Our appointment as preferred bidder by Scottish Borders Council is particularly pleasing as, subject to contract award, the project represents a broad scope of services to be managed by New Earth and utilises our range of technologies and processes. The Easter Langlee facility will be our farthest north, truly expanding our reach to cover the UK mainland. We look forward to working in partnership with Scottish Borders Council.”