In one of the first Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) investments to be completed since tax relief changes were announced in the 2011 Budget, Enviroparks will use the money to construct processing plants that generate energy from waste products.

In December last year, the company was awarded planning permission for its first facility on a 20-acre site on the Hirwaun Industrial Estate in South Wales. The site will be capable of processing up to 240,000 tonnes of waste each year. A number of other locations have also been identified.

Chancellor George Osborne announced an increase to the income tax relief available under the EIS from 20 per cent to 30 per cent during April’s Budget.

Enviroparks chairman Roger Hewitt built Shanks Group from a £9 million private, regional operator into the UK’s largest listed waste management company valued at over £500 million.

Enviroparks plans to integrate proven cutting-edge recycling and energy production technologies, including gasification and anaerobic digestion technology, to generate power. Plants will be constructed near large energy users, such as data centres or cold storage providers, who will buy steam or heat by-products as well as electricity.

Hewitt comments: ‘Enviroparks’ facilities will squeeze every ounce of value out of incoming waste by integrating the best available technologies in one facility. That means they will benefit from all the legislative incentives designed to encourage more recycling and more efficient conversion to power.’

Russell Pope, chief investment officer at Hotbed, adds: ‘This is exactly the kind of innovative business that the government wants to encourage investment in through EIS. It is also just the kind of investment that Hotbed members want us to present to them.’