Waste Masters
November 27, 2010AES rapidly became a key player in the waste management market following a major expansion and acquisition programme shortly after the turn of the millennium. The company now operates out of six centres around the country, in Navan, Nenagh, Portlaoise, Tullamore, Rosslare and the company headquarters in Naas, Co Kildare. AES recognises the potential for waste as a valuable resource and is committed to developing an innovative waste management strategy integrating the best of available technologies.
In Meath, where AES acquired Midland Waste - a long established family run business in the county - in 2002, the company operates out of its Waste Recycling Facility at Clonmagaddan in Proudstown, just north of Navan on the Kingscourt road. There, the facility comprises of an 8.2 acre site with full planning permission for use as a Materials Recycling Facility/Waste Transfer Station with an Environmental Protection Agency Waste License to operate the facility.
A total of 71 staff, including Bohermeen man Mark Duffy as General Manager, are employed at the AES Navan facility which has a capacity to cater for approximately 92,000 tonnes of waste and recycling per annum. The firm has an outstanding reputation for customer service and that could not happen without the professionalism and commitment of all staff members.
There are two main centres at the Navan facility, with the 160,000 sq ft main building catering for the processing and segregation of recyclable material such as timber, metals, cardboard, plastic and stone, and a second building which encompasses in the region of 80,000 sq ft where the company bulks up dry recycling material to be sent on to the AES Tullamore facility for further processing as well as catering for 20 tonnes of cardboard per hour. Other areas in the facility include workshops and washing facilities to service and maintain a fleet of up to 42 vehicles which operate out of the facility.
It's all come a long way since the company's initial foray into the Irish waste market as Waste Recycling Ireland in 1996. Five years later, the expansion programme started in earnest and the company commenced trading as Advanced Environmental Solutions (Ireland) Ltd in July 2001 through the acquisition of several waste management companies in the Midland Region, the cost of which, in tandem with AES's rationalisation plan, was in the order of €30m. This planned expansion took in the region of 14 months to complete. AES traded in this capacity until May 2007 when it was acquired by Bord na Móna plc.
Since Bord na Móna completed the acquisition of AES, the company is regarded as a key element of Bord na Móna's strategy of diversification into Waste Management and Power Generation. Cutting-edge recycling practices are at the heart of everything AES does, and the company has developed five recycling centres around the country, all of which are EPA licensed. In Navan, AES have commissioned a state-of-the-art 'in-vessel' composting system, while recycling activities in Portlaoise and Tullamore have resulted in AES being nominated by RePak as the 2006 Recovery Operator of the Year.
In accordance with good management practice it is the policy of the Directors and Management at AES to achieve and sustain the highest standards of waste management & environmental practice. It is policy to comply with all statutory requirements and common law duties relating to all work activities. With ISO 14001 & OSHAS 18001 group accreditation AES are regularly updating the Legislation register relevant to the business. Should new/amended legislation be introduced that is relevant to the business then, AES will update procedures immediately and inform the customer accordingly.
Over the last eight years the company has grown organically and now operates nationwide serving approximately 60,000 domestic homes across Leinster and North Munster, including a growing business in Dublin.
It also has a commercial customer base numbering 6,000 clients, and AES prides itself as a provider of the perfect solution for business, ensuring that customers have just one invoice and one service provider which usually helps to reduce overall waste costs.
Among the services offered are:
• Waste collection and treatment, in which AES is recognised as an industry leader in developing and implementing customised money-saving solutions for companies with national, regional, and/or local waste and recycling collection needs across the 26 counties
• Waste audit and consultancy; helping customers to keep on top of the increasingly complex issue of managing their waste, AES places a huge emphasis on cost-effectiveness while simultaneously complying with all regulations. Potential AES customers can take advantage of a free no-obligation waste management audit so that they can analyse their requirements and discover the best-suited waste management package
• Environmental monitoring and testing; as part of Born na Móna, Ireland's leading environmentally responsible integrated utility service provider, encompassing electricity, heating solutions, resource recovery, water, horticulture and related services in Ireland, Europe and North America, AES operates at the forefront of environmentally sound practices
• Landfill; the new Drehid site in north Kildare, which opened in 2008, has an annual capacity of 360,000 tonnes of residual waste for landfill. Although landfill is currently the predominate activity at Drehid, Bord na Mona has plans to develop the site as a Resource Recovery facility in order to comply with government policy and EU legislation on the diversion of waste to landfill
• Composting and biowaste; Bord na Mona's composting plant in Kilberry, County Laois, currently treats 44,000 tonnes of green waste and its target is to compost 150,000 tonnes by 2013. Alongside the Horticulture R&D team and trials conducted with their university partner, UCD, indigenous Irish organic waste streams are converted into a high-quality growing medium that is bagged and sold to the customer. Planning permission has been granted for a new 25,000 tonne capacity composting facility at Drehid. Construction at this facility commenced in November 2010.
• WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) services; To comply with WEEE regulations, businesses must segregate and dispose of electrical items to appropriate processors, and AES will tailor a plan for your business that takes care of WEEE and any other specialist requirements. We can add this to an overall package for you that will include general and recyclable waste.
Two years ago, a specially commissioned report by the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School to assess market perception discovered 96% customer satisfaction with AES's current service provision. As far as future plans go, AES will continue to explore all possibilities to further improve and advance its services in order to strengthen that impressive position in the market.
With Bord na Mona's Innovation Centre, established in 2008 the objective of promoting innovative behaviour, the aim is to help the company generate a sustainable future in line with the new strategic business direction of Bord na Móna, entitled 'A New Contract with Nature'. Our Innovation Centre, drawing on the wider Bord na Móna experience in Energy and manufacture of Composts is focussed on the application of technology to develop improved environmental outcomes and reduced costs in handling our customers' waste materials. The objective of AES is to move the challenge from one of Waste Management to one of Resource Recovery.
Bord na Móna and AES are uniquely positioned to play a key role in preparing the low carbon society of the future by improving existing climate friendly waste management technologies and devising those of tomorrow. This innovation focuses on improving waste management systems to add value to the customer and open new possibilities for sustainable development. Future developments of AES and the Innovation Centre will focus on a range of areas, including diversion of waste from landfill, adopting a market leading strategy in organic waste recovery and sustainable horticultural products, and the dilution of peat products with green waste.
The AES Gaels
It's not all work and no play for the folk at AES Navan, either. Several staff members take a close interest in the goings-on in GAA at both local and inter-county, none more so than Wolfe Tones stalwart Tony McDonnell.
Tony, who is involved in the domestic customer service department of AES Navan having joined Midland Waste 12 years ago, is known far and wide in Meath GAA circles due to his involvement with Gibbstown and Wolfe Tones as a player, as secretary and chairman of the Tones for more than a decade and with the County Board, for whom he served as Oifigeach Gaeilge for four years.
When it comes to the number of committed Gaels in the AES Navan office, Tony is not alone. "There are a few in here who are fairly staunch," he tells Royal County. "One of our reps, Martin Henry, plays with Cortown and is involved with the Cortown Committee. Martin Heneghan, who's originally from Lucan but is living in Navan now, played hurling and football with Wolfe Tones and is now involved in camogie with Navan O'Mahonys.
"Martin McEntaggart, who was involved with Bellewstown, moved into the Navan area and is now a selector with the O'Mahony's U15s. Anthony Carry played with Drumbaragh for a long number of years and remains a staunch club supporter still.
"A number of the team in the office are heavily involved in the GAA as well. Laura Mulvaney is playing with Gaeil Colmcille at the moment, and Gillian Bennett was in all the yearbooks for years and played with Meath. She was an amazing footballer.
"Paul Curtis is our commercial sales manager and played with the John Mitchels club in Louth."
As for Tony's own patch, Wolfe Tones' raced through the grades with junior, intermediate and senior triumphs in the four years between 2003 and 2006.
Tony cherishes those memories.
"There's no doubt about it, it was a dream come true to see the Keegan Cup in the parish a few years ago," he says. "We would have been happy for a long number of years with a junior or an intermediate, but to see the senior championship coming our way was unbelievable."
For more on the products and services offered by AES Navan, log on to www.aesirl.ie or call either 046 90 22222 or 1850 650 655. Tweet
