The wonder from down under finds an Aussie funder

February 14, 2019 |

From Australia we have just heard that Licella has given the exclusive Australian license for the Cat-HTR and End-of-Life Plastic to its subsidiary iQ Renew, which has in turn merged with Australian recycler Stop Waste, a cash flow positive business, in which Licella Holdings is now a shareholder. As part of the overall transaction share swap, Stop Waste Holdings, owners of Stop Waste, have also made an investment into Licella.

iQR will be one of the first companies globally to combine physical and chemical recycling, at a time when the world is searching for new recycling pathways following China’s effective ban on imported foreign waste.

The combined venture going forward

iQR now owns and operates the portfolio of Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) and secondary processing facilities on the NSW Central Coast, an hour north of Sydney, Australia. These facilities include two for primary recycling (sorting), and two for secondary recycling (processing single streams for re-manufacture). Combined, iQR’s facilities process over 100,000 tons per annum of recovered resources, collected curbside by councils.

A commercial-scale Cat-HTR plant

In addition to its physical recycling operations, iQR have the exclusive license to the Cat-HTR platform for End-of-Life Plastic and End-of-Life Tyres in Australia and New Zealand. Moreover, Licella and iQR’s new global joint venture, iQ Renew Wood Recycling, is an exciting opportunity to extract value from construction and demolition (C&D) wood waste. To support both opportunities, iQR are committed to funding and building a commercial scale Cat-HTR plant in the next 18 months.

The Stop Waste background

In CY2018, Stop Waste made an EBITDA of approximately A$9M and totals 60 people (employees and contractors). Through the merger, Licella have a pathway to earn up to 32% of the iQR business.

“I am an absolute believer in the Cat-HTR technology and this was a key driver in the decision to merge Stop Waste with iQ Renew,” Mr Gallagher said. “We continue to expand our recycling business into exciting new areas, including construction and demolition wood waste, driving innovation, maximizing value and minimizing waste in resource recovery.” As part of the partnership, Mr Danial Gallagher, founder of Stop Waste, has been appointed CEO of iQR, and will also join the Licella Board as a Non-Executive Director.

A third path forward

Licella noted to the Digest:

In addition to our joint ventures in Canada with Canfor Pulp (Centree) and in the UK with Armstrong Energy (Mura), this new venture gives Licella’s Cat-HTR platform a third pathway to commercialization. We look forward to growing this additional business opportunity both within Australia and globally.

More on the story

Here’s more on the story.

The Bottom Line

Licella continues to find very interesting partners to commercialize its technology — not unlike the approach that LanzaTech has successfully employed. The key has generally been to find feedstock owners who can realize a substantial lift in the value of the residues they control by applying the Cat-HTR platform.

Moreover, it’s another worthy competitor to the likes of Enerkem and Fulcrum BioEnergy in terms of presenting useful value uplifts to clients with municipal waste resources.

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