London, 21 July 2008

New Earth Solutions Limited (“NES”), the British waste treatment and resource recovery company, and The Premier Group (“Premier”), the Isle of Man based investment fund provider have launched the New Earth Solutions Recycling Facilities Investment Sub Fund (“the Fund”), which will invest directly in NES’s recycling and waste management facilities in the UK.

The Fund, which is designed for experienced investors only, has a listing on the Channel Islands Stock Exchange and is also available via SIPP and Offshore Bond providers.

Adrian Jones, Finance Director of NES, said: “The Fund will help accelerate the development of sustainable waste management practices in the UK. It will enable New Earth Solutions Limited to continue the roll out of its advanced waste treatment facilities, assisting the UK in meeting statutory
recycling and landfill diversion targets.”

David Whitaker, a Director of the Fund, said: “In launching the Fund we aim to provide investors with the opportunity to obtain long term capital growth by investing in proven, effective and efficient waste management technologies. The Fund is already available through the products of many of the leading international life companies and SIPP providers, including AEGON Scottish Equitable International WMP & SIPP, American Securities International, Canada Life International Premier Account, Hornbuckle Mitchell Trustees and Scottish Provident International Choice Portfolio, with the list growing daily.”

NES was established to help local authorities meet their obligations to divert waste from landfill under the EU landfill directive. It currently has a 50,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) waste facility operating in Canford, Dorset, supported by waste management contracts with Bournemouth Borough Council, Bristol City Council, Kent County Council and Leicestershire County Council. A new facility is currently under construction in Kent with underpinning contracts to recycle organic waste on behalf of Kent and Essex County Councils.

NES’s key technology is the Advanced Bio Stabilisation System. This high temperature composting process and use of sophisticated air handling equipment, prevents odour or emissions of bio-aerosols normally associated with traditional biological waste treatment processes.

In addition to the treatment of biodegradable wastes, NES technology captures other recyclables such as plastics, glass, ferrous and non? ferrous metals, all helping with the meeting of statutory recycling targets.

The Fund will help finance NES’s roll-out of waste facilities. To begin with it will invest in the operational plant at Canford Park and the new plant in Kent. Each new plant will cost approximately £10million to finance.

In February 2008 NES received an equity investment of £4million from Impax Asset Management (“Impax”), the UK’s largest quoted environmental investment management company.

Jonathan Fogg, an Investment Manager at Impax said: “New Earth’s technology is proven, effective and efficient. The company has a significant track record in delivering services to existing clients and a range of innovative, competitive and flexible packages for local authority clients looking for viable solutions in waste treatment and recycling technology.”

The UK is currently the second worst waste offender in Europe with over 75% of all “black bag” waste ending up in landfill sites. Research undertaken by the Local Government Association shows that UK households sent 22.6 million tonnes of rubbish to landfill in 2004/2005 (the most recent year for which compound figures are available across the EU).

The UK waste management industry is facing strict recycling and landfill diversion targets. Local authorities now face restrictions on the amount of biodegradable waste which can be sent to landfill and penalty fines for every tonne in excess of that agreed limit will be strictly imposed. This, coupled with incentives for the recovery of valuable resources and the generation of sustainable energy, presents significant development opportunities to waste management companies and the investment community.

About the Fund:

The New Earth Solutions Recycling Facilities Investment Sub-Fund (“the Fund”) is a sub-fund of The Premier Investment Opportunities Fund Protected Cell Company plc and is available only to experienced investors.

An investment into the Fund provides an opportunity to participate in a market not normally available to the individual investor, by investing in the development and subsequent trading performance of the recycling waste management systems of New Earth Solutions Limited.

The investment objective is to provide investors with long term growth by investing in the development and subsequent trading performance of industrial facilities incorporating recycling waste management systems in the UK. The Fund is administered by IFG Fund Administration (IOM) Limited which is licensed
by the Isle of Man Government.

Fund Criteria:

• 100% of the subscription is applied to purchase shares
• Monthly dealing at a minimum investment of £10,000 with additional investments or via life offices reduced to £5,000
• Listed on the Channel Islands Stock Exchange
• The long term investment returns cannot be guaranteed but are anticipated to be in the range of 12% - 15% per annum
• Exit penalties from 8% reducing by 0.40% per quarter to 0% over 5 years – ON EARLY REDEMPTION ONLY and 5% can be withdrawn free of exit penalty per year
• Annual Management Charges: 1.5%

For more information on the Fund, please visit: www.newearthrecyclingfund.com

Media Enquiries
Samantha Hill
Carbon International
samantha.hill@carboninternational.com
+44 (0)207 483 7205

David Hopkins
Carbon International
david.hopkins@carboninternational.com
+44 (0)207 483 7202

Sanderson will play a key role in developing a strong distribution arm for New Earth Solution’s organic by-products as resulting from the processing of biodegradable and source segregated municipal waste from local authority clients.

Peter Gillatt Managing Director of New Earth Solutions comments, “I am delighted that Rob Sanderson has agreed to join us in promoting the market presence of our quality compost across both the agriculture and landscape sectors. Our product will be widely available in all of those regional areas that New Earth Solutions has been contracted to build a facility and we are now set to significantly expand our customer portfolio across the UK. It is our intention to become widely recognised as a brand of excellence”.

“Rob Sanderson has an impressive track record in the utilisation of beneficial organic material to land, and I am confident that he will be bringing with him a wealth of expertise and initiative”

Prior to joining New Earth Solutions Rob Sanderson held the post of Waste Recycling Manager for Thames Water, the largest water and wastewater services company in the UK.

“New Earth Solutions stands out as one of the most progressive and forward thinking companies in the waste and recycling industry”, said Rob Sanderson.

“New Earth Solutions is already distributing high quality product to a number of farmers in the Dorset region and the benefits of the composting processes are twofold: to encourage arable crop farmers to increase their usage of organic compost as fertiliser with positive results for the wider environment; and to create a valuable by-product. Effectively this means that New Earth is proactively encouraging the diversion of waste from landfill and promoting its positive application elsewhere”.

Each New Earth Solutions facility has the capacity to process an initial 50,000 tonnes of source segregated biodegradable or residual waste per annum which results in the production of between 400 to 600 tonnes of organic compost each month.

New Earth Solutions is currently supplying organic compost to six farmers in the Dorset region as processed by the companies’ first facility at Canford which is contracted by Bournemouth Borough Council and Dorset County Council.

In addition to the marketing of organic composts Sanderson will also co-ordinate New Earth Solutions research and development programme relating to the beneficial uses of the compost and quantifying its environmental benefits.

The innovative New Earth Solutions composting process incorporates active aeration, dynamic windrowing and irrigation. The combination of these key elements results in a process that can compost meat-included catering wastes to both the UK and EU standards of the Animal By Products Regulations (ABPR).

For further details on the availability of New Earth Solutions organic by-products and compost contact Rob Sanderson directly on 07887 523 963 or email rob.sanderson@newearthsolutions.co.uk

For further information, interviews, or images, please contact Daniella Steadman at the Loud Group on 020 7430 1091 or by email at Daniella.steadman@loudgroup.com

Lafarge was awarded a five year contract to treat 30 - 50,000 tonnes of waste a year by the county council in late April 2008 and the proposed development would be located within the company’s existing quarry, waste management and recycling facility at Cotesbach, near Lutterworth.

New Earth Solutions has a proven track record in the design, build and operation of similar facilities elsewhere in the UK. The partners hope that planning permission will be granted in time for construction to start in Autumn 2008, so the facility would be able to accept waste approximately 12 months later. The plant will also need an operating consent from the Environment Agency.

The scheme is designed to help Leicestershire County Council reduce the amount of residual waste – rubbish collected by the district councils and not recycled – going to landfill, before a new, large scale waste management scheme is introduced around 2015.

The entire process would be carried out inside totally enclosed buildings in a controlled environment, where a specialist filter system would process odours so they do not escape into the environment. The location of the proposed facility is already well screened from neighbouring properties. All the waste to be treated through the New Earth Solutions plant already gets delivered to the site – where it is currently landfilled, so there will be no extra vehicles.

Tim Deal, Senior Planning and Estates Manager for Lafarge believes that keeping the local community up to date with what is happening is a vitally important part of the planning process,

“We have had an active Liaison Group for this site for many years and always involve them in our plans for both existing and proposed developments. This means we can deal with any issues or concerns very early in the process.

“This project potentially offers double environmental benefits. From the county’s perspective, they reduce the amount of biodegradable waste going to landfill, helping them to meet government targets. At the same time, the process produces a by-product which we can use to help us improve the restoration of the landfill site to agriculture, nature conservation and public amenity.”

Peter Mills, Commercial Director at New Earth Solutions is delighted to be partnering Lafarge Aggregates and Leicestershire County Council in this significant project,

“Our proven technology for advanced waste treatment and resource recovery already successfully operates in Dorset and a second plant in Kent is nearing completion. We are proud of our existing track record in serving the needs of local authorities and I look forward to providing a valuable environmental service to Leicestershire in the future.”

Both Bristol City Council’s cabinet member for Sustainable Development, Councillor Mark Bradshaw and Peter Gillatt, Managing Director of New Earth Solutions attended an official contract signing to mark the award of the contract.

“We are delighted to be key in driving forward existing waste and recycling strategy within the region and assisting Bristol City Council in meeting their recycling and landfill diversion targets”, says Peter Gillatt.

“New Earth Solutions’ technology is proven to produce a high quality compost product of significant ecological benefit that can be utilised for agricultural and horticultural purposes”.

New Earth Solutions has been processing kerbside food, green and cardboard waste on behalf of Bristol City Council for the past 18 months and was initially contracted on an interim basis to assist the council in understanding its ultimate processing requirements. The award of the 20 year contract will see New Earth Solutions develop a bespoke facility for Bristol City Council that will provide a local recycling solution for its organic wastes.

“Bristol has made great progress in achieving much higher levels of recycling and by working in partnership with New Earth Solutions we can continue to see this improvement, while removing the need to send our organic waste by road to Dorset”, comments Councillor Mark Bradshaw.

“The new dedicated facility will be bespoke and designed to an exact specification based on a tried and tested methodology. It is ultimately ideal for the specific requirements of Bristol based residents”.

The new facility is to be located close to Avonmouth and will be ideally located for convenient links into the city. It is expected that the facility will take approximately 9 months to build and it is set to be fully operational by 2010.

New Earth Solutions’ facilities are fully enclosed and incorporate state of the art process and emissions control systems.

For images and further information, or interviews, please contact Daniella Steadman on tel.020 7430 1091 or by email, Daniella.Steadman@loudgroup.com.

Cabinet member for waste, Nick Rushton, said: “We are committed to the green agenda and although we recognise there will always be a need for some landfill, we want to avoid dumping waste in landfill sites whenever we can. We don’t mind paying a bit more if it reduces the amount of landfill, which potentially causes greenhouse gases”.

Residual waste is rubbish collected by the District Councils that is not separated for recycling. At the moment, this goes into landfill sites but the County Council wants to reduce this and deal with it in a more sustainable way.

After assessing a number of options, the County Council has awarded Lafarge a five-year contract to treat at least 40,000 – and possibly up to 50,000 – tonnes per year from as early as 2009. A planning application has to be submitted for the proposed development and no work can take place until the facility has received both a full planning consent from Leicestershire County Council and an Environmental Permit, issued by the Environment Agency. The plant will be monitored and regulated to the very highest standards.

The proposed treatment process uses proven technology developed by New Earth Solutions Ltd. Any waste that can be recycled is taken out and then most of the organic material is removed in an enclosed composting system. The end product can then be used to restore the landfill site. The entire process would be carried out in an enclosed and controlled environment.

It is expected that the process will reduce the amount of waste landfilled in Leicestershire, before a new, large scale waste management scheme is introduced around 2015.

Andrew Bate, Lafarge General Manager for Waste Disposal and Recycling says,

“We are delighted that our expertise in waste management, our positive track record for site restoration and our partnership approach have meant we have been awarded this contract by Leicestershire County Council. The New Earth Solutions technology is tried and tested elsewhere in the country. This innovative process provides the double benefit of assisting the county council in diverting waste from landfill and producing a by-product which we can then use to enhance the restoration of the landfill site to agriculture, nature conservation and public amenity. We hope to submit the planning application for the facility during May 2008.”

Press contact for Lafarge Aggregates Ltd –

Ruth Roll
Ruth Roll Environmental Communications Ltd

Tel: 01327 844074
Fax: 01327 844075
Mobile: 07860 695439
Email: ruth@rrec.freeserve.co.uk

According to Peter Gillatt, Managing Director, New Earth Solutions, “This funding from Impax is crucial in helping us meet a core objective to develop six more operational facilities for local authority clients in the run up to 2009. The private equity injection also helps to lay the foundation for our planned flotation on AIM before the end of next year”.

New Earth Solutions has a 50,000 tonne per annum (tpa) facility operating in Canford, Dorset, supported by waste management contracts with Bournemouth Borough Council and Bristol City Council. Additionally, a new facility is under construction in Kent and contracted to receive source segregated organic waste from Kent and Essex County Councils.

Jonathan Fogg, Investment Manager at Impax comments, “New Earth Solutions biological waste treatment and recycling technology is proven, effective and efficient. The company has a significant track record in delivering services to existing clients and a range of innovative, competitive and flexible packages for local authority clients looking for viable solutions in waste treatment and recycling technology. As a result of fast approaching EU and UK targets on waste management legislation, private equity interest within the waste and recycling industry is flourishing. We believe our partnership with New Earth Solutions will help create significantly increased shareholder value”.

Impax has made the investment on behalf of two of its funds under management, Impax Environmental Markets PLC, the London Stock Exchange listed investment trust, and Impax Environmental Markets (Ireland), an open ended fund with a similar specialist investment portfolio across sustainable sectors. The two funds combined have assets under management above £600 million.

New Earth Solutions processes were researched and developed over a period of 7 years and according to the Environment Agency’s formal assessment are proven to divert over 80% of biodegradable municipal waste from landfill, whilst recovering dry recyclables. The technology is housed in low impact buildings and wastes treatment is deliverable through processes which are acceptable to local communities.

In 2007, over a third of the Nord LB finance package was utilised on two key projects:

1. Firstly, the completion of a 50,000 tonne per annum (”tpa”) facility in Canford Dorset. The operation is one of only two Mechanical Biological Technology (MBT) facilities in the UK to receive approval for a Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS) diversion monitoring plan from the Environment Agency in 2007.

The facility has been operational in treating source segregated waste for Bristol City Council, Surrey County Council and Eastleigh Borough Council, and is additionally contracted by commercial partner Asda, to deliver the firm’s first zero waste to landfill supermarket store in the UK.

The site, in Dorset, is also processing residual black bag municipal waste for Bournemouth Borough Council, and in doing is enabling the Council to measure and effectively meet target waste diversion obligations under the EU Landfill Directive.

2. Secondly, New Earth Solutions has been contracted by Kent County Council and is in the process of constructing a 50,000 tpa facility in Kent. A contract has been secured for a period of 15 years. Construction work commenced in November 2007 and the facility is anticipated to be fully operational by the end of 2008.

As a result of the balance of the Nord LB financial package, New Earth Solutions is planning to roll out five other treatment facilities across the UK. It is projected that the combined annual turnover will be in excess of £20 million.

Comments Mathias Pahlke, Head of Waste and Environmental Services, Nord LB: “The banking sector appears to be undergoing a noticeable boom in investment in progressive types of waste processing technologies. New Earth Solutions’ non-thermal biological facilities mark an exciting new phase in waste management services and combined with a robust and proven business model are highly significant in their potential to deliver a long term solution to current industry and local government wide challenges”.

According to Adrian Jones, Finance Director, New Earth Solutions, “We are thrilled to be working in partnership with Nord LB. This is a competitive sector but we have researched and developed an innovative solution to current waste management challenges with proven results. We value the support of Nord LB and anticipate that we are now well on our way to building up a network of facilities on behalf of local authority and commercial clients. This package from Nord LB will enable us to reach our target of recycling up to 2,500,000 tonnes of municipals.

This package will help us deliver significant processing capacity as part of our goal of being one of the few proven solutions offering innovative and competitive packages to our clients. Ultimately this will enable us to reach our target of recycling up to 2,500,000 tonnes of municipal and commercial waste per annum by 2013.”

The plant is the first of its kind in the UK to treat residual black bag municipal, source segregated and commercial waste within the same facility. It is anticipated that the Nord LB package will enable New Earth Solutions to reach a target of recycling up to 2,500,000 tonnes of municipal and commercial waste per annum by 2013.

New Earth Solutions technology is the first of its kind in the UK, with the capacity to treat residual black bag municipal, source segregated and commercial waste, and within the same facility.

The Dorset facility is contracted by Bournemouth Borough Council to process Residual Municipal Waste via bio stabilisation and mechanical recovery techniques, and is one of the first MBT facilities in the UK to receive approval for a LATS diversion monitoring plan from the Environment Agency.

A report entitled, ‘Monitoring plan to determine performance of a New Earth Solutions MBT plant in terms of Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS)’ explains how New Earth Solutions will proceed with quantifying the amount of residual ‘black bag’ biodegradable waste that is diverted from landfill on behalf of local authority clients, including Bournemouth Borough Council.

Says Jon Pickering of the Organic Resource Agency (technical consultants to New Earth Solutions), “The monitoring plan is required by the Environment Agency to determine the percentage diversion of biodegradable waste from landfill. This means that New Earth Solutions can demonstrate to local authority clients such as Bournemouth Borough Council that the assessment techniques are robust. The results can then be used to determine the potential performance under the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS)”.

The monitoring plan will provide Bournemouth Borough Council and New Earth Solutions with a LATS approved certificate by which to prove the rates of diversion achieved via New Earth technology.

According to Peter Gillatt, Managing Director at New Earth Solutions: “The report is crucial in the development of an approved programme to provide Bournemouth Borough Council with a formalised measure of the bio-stabilisation and diversion processes underway. The results of the monitoring programme will enable the local authority to determine the extent to which it is achieving landfill diversion targets with a fully accountable and approved strategy in place to report exactly what is being achieved in meeting Landfill Diversion obligations as required by the EU Landfill Directive”.

Previous tests undertaken on New Earth technology by the Organic Resource Agency have proven that in excess of 80% of biodegradable waste can be diverted from landfill when treated by a New Earth facility.

New Earth Solutions has secured contracts with Kent County Council, Essex County Council and Bournemouth Borough Council, and as a result of project financing from the German Bank Nord LB will continue to rapidly establish new facilities throughout the UK.

The white paper, which sets out the Government’s international and domestic energy strategy, promotes Anaerobic Digestion as a potentially ‘clean’ secure’ and ‘affordable’ energy resource, and announces key changes to the UK renewable energy subsidy programme to support the development of competitive new technologies in the UK.

It is proposed that the Anaerobic Digestion process will be trialled at the New Earth biological treatment plant in Poole. The pilot plant will encompass technology specifically designed to treat solid wastes in order to generate sustainable electricity. The anaerobic digestion process is complimentary to New Earth’s highly successful biological treatment programme, and the development will enable the firm to generate its own electricity requirements.

Comments Peter Gillatt, Managing Director at New Earth, “Our main objective is to be energy self sufficient and while using clean and safe renewable electricity, reduce our exposure to increasing energy costs and reliance on outside suppliers as far as possible.

The recent Energy white paper and renewable energy subsidy programme has given us a significant cost saving opportunity and the chance to harness an emergent and sustainable technology. We hope to safeguard the reliability of affordable energy supplies in all of our facilities across the UK”.

Anaerobic Digestion is a biological process which works by breaking down organic materials within a sealed airtight vessel known as a ‘digester’. Consequently biogas is released and this can be utilised as a fuel to generate electrical power.

New Earth Solution’s Chairman, Bill Riddle, has a successful track record in pioneering renewable energy from municipal waste. A power station beside the New Earth Solutions facility in Canford, has been utilising methane gas from a nearby landfill site to generate electricity supplies to the National Grid for a period of over twelve years.

‘The added advantage of Anaerobic Digestion’ continues Gillatt ‘is that we are making a commitment to drastically reduce our Carbon Footprint, while positively addressing the challenge of long term energy supplies’.

The firm, which specialises in providing effective solutions for the treatment of both source segregated and unsegregated Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) via bio stabilisation and mechanical recovery techniques, aims to be the first waste management facility in the UK to build a bespoke in-house Anaerobic Digestions technology system and become self-reliant for power.

CNBC European Business publishes its second Top 50 Low-Carbon Pioneers List…private companies that represent the cutting edge of the sector and the hot investments of 2007.