Lancashire firm to become UK’s first renewable fuel pellet maker with £575k investment

Lancashire Waste Recycling is set to create more than a dozen jobs with six-figure funding.

The Fleetwood-based business, which takes household waste destined for landfill and turns it into fuel, will use the £575k boost to invest in new plant, expand its market and take on 15 new staff over the next three years.

The cash came through Lancashire Rosebud Finance and NPIF - FW Capital Debt Finance, part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF).

Lancashire Waste Recycling is set to become the first business in the UK to offer solid renewable fuel (SRF) pellets, which it said are growing in demand globally as an alternative to coal in heavy industry.

The firm currently produces fuel in the form of shredded material used in cement kilns. But the £575k investment will enable it to acquire biomass boilers and plant to dry out the fuel and turn it into pellets.

Lancashire Waste Recycling was established in 2010 by entrepreneurs Paul Mellor and Jim Entwisle. Sister company Envirofuel, based in Burnley, was set up in 2016.

The two companies employ more than 30 staff between them.

NPIF – FW Capital Debt Finance is managed by investment firm FW Capital.

Andy Traynor, senior investment executive at FW Capital, commented: “Our investment is helping Lancashire Waste Recycling meet growing demand in an expanding world-wide market, which will enable them to create new jobs and revenues in the North West.

“Their production of SRF pellets is a UK first, of a higher standard than its European counterparts and demonstrates its truly innovative status.”

He added: “Cutting both carbon emissions and the volume of domestic waste that goes to landfill, reducing the UK’s reliance on imported fuels, and enhancing energy diversity and security for our industries are all direct benefits of this exciting technology.”

Lancashire Waste Recycling was advised on the deal by the corporate finance team at accountancy firm MHA Moore and Smalley.

Mercia Fund Managers runs Rosebud Finance on behalf of Lancashire County Developments Ltd, the County Council’s development arm.

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