Waste treatment specialist AeroThermal has secured funding from investors including Bridges Ventures and Carbon Trust Investments.

Waste treatment specialist AeroThermal has secured funding from investors including Bridges Ventures and Carbon Trust Investments.

The company’s existing shareholders also contributed to the fundraising, details of which are undisclosed.

The money will be used to build a full-scale system to convert waste to biogas, using AeroThermal’s steam treatment process. Chief executive Ian Toll calls the deal ‘a major milestone’ for the company, enabling it ‘to prove its innovative technology at full commercial scale’.

AeroThermal’s system involves processing mixed raw waste in a large vessel or “autoclave” at high pressure, breaking down the cell structure of organic material and thus increasing the proportion of waste available for conversion to biogas. The remaining recyclable material is then sterilised and cleaned.