Panda fits the bill
December 30, 2010For the good folk at Panda Waste, the small matter of the worst recession in the history of the state was never going to be a barrier to ongoing growth. While companies across the country were consolidating and streamlining - or worse - Panda Waste is one of the few to have maintained a steady upward spiral over the past 18 months.
The company's turnover has grown more than 25 per cent to approximately €50m in 2010, with the number of household customers increasing from 60,000 to 80,000. Redundancies and dole queues have been the recurring themes around the country but staff numbers at Panda have increased following the acquisition of the biggest skip waste collector in Dublin, A1 Waste, earlier this year.
Having started life as a waste operator with a strong leaning towards construction and demolition waste, Panda is now the country's leading integrated waste management company, with a strong Leinster focus and a long-established tradition in domestic, commercial, skips, dry recyclables, liquid waste and processing of waste.
"Panda is divided into six key businesses as outlined above and all have shown significant growth over the past year or so," says Brian McCabe, company director of Panda Waste. "The acquisition of Dublin-based company A1 Waste - officially completed in August 2010 - means that we are now the largest skip operator in the region stretching from Dundalk to Dublin. This coupled with our extensive lists of products on offer to our existing 80,000 domestic customers makes us one of the largest providers of waste solutions in the country.
With a worldwide focus on sustainability and renewable energy a key challenge facing mankind in the 21st century, the days of dumping waste in mass landfill sites have long since begun to wind down. With that in mind, Panda is at the forefront of the movement towards greener waste solutions, from large-scale recycling to innovative new technologies aimed at using waste to create electrical energy. Having signed a 32-county nationwide dry recycling contract with Dunnes Stores in 2007, Panda Waste is also now one of the biggest exporters of dry recyclables in the country, with a direct export license to China. In addition to the recycling contract, we have recently being engaged to service all of Dunnes Stores waste requirements over the 32 counties. We are now the sole collector for Dunnes Stores.
In relation to recycling, Brian McCabe explains, "After the acquisition of the Smurfit plant at Ballymount in south County Dublin in 2007 we established Irish Packaging Recycling Ltd, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Panda Waste. We export around 120,000 tonnes of material, including papers, cardboards and plastics, directly into China. That has been developed over the last 18 months or so, and to facilitate this element of the company we have opened an office in China.
Panda has a strong commitment towards recycling, and we are leading extensive research and development into new technologies which will come on stream at our facility in Beauparc, Co Meath in 2011/12. As proof of our committement, we were overall winners in the Innovative Business Category award at the recently hosted Meath Business and Tourism Awards 2010.
Panda currently operates out of five facilities in Meath and Dublin - at Cappagh, at the newly-acquired A1 Waste base in Greenhills, Tallaght and two sites in Ballymount, the Irish Packaging Recycling facility and the former Veolia premises, as well as the company HQ at Beauparc near Slane.
Further developments during 2010 involved the construction and installation of a 120,000 tonne facility at our Meath premises for the production of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) for use in the cement industry as a fuel replacement for coal. This will be used in cement kilns in both Ireland and across Europe. 4 tonnes of this material (which would originally have gone to landfill and is the waste produced by households) is equivalent to 3 tonnes of coal. Thus reducing the carbon footprint of the cement industry. This facility is currently being commissioned and will be in full operation in the early part of 2011. In addition to this it will create new employment at a time when all we hear every day is loss of jobs.
Panda's second phase of diverting waste away from landfill is finding an alternative solution for the food / organic waste that is in everyday bins and from source segregated and collected bins. Regulations now in place requires each household or company producing food waste to segregate this material into a separate bin with a separate designated collection. Panda are currently rolling out separate food bins to all it's commercial and domestic customers. This requires investment in over 90,000 bins, delivery of same and separate collection of same.
To deal with this material we have obtained planning permission - again at our Meath Facility - for an 80,000 tonne per annum Anerobic Digestion System (AD). This facility when built will cover 4-5 acres and will cost Panda in the region of €15 million. Extensive research and development has been carried out by Panda both in Ireland and in Europe to ensure we go forward with the correct technology. When in full operation, this facility will produce 1.3MW of electricity and this will be diverted back into the national grid from our facility as green electricity.
The heat produced from the anerobic process will also be used in the drying of the waste in our RDF Facility. The AD Facility will produce the end product as fully matured sterilised compost that can be used as soil enrichment.
With both incineration and landfills suffering from bad press and so-called nimbyism, a term arising from "not in my back yard", the whole area of waste management has fought a public relations battle for many decades, but Brian McCabe insists that Panda Waste is doing everything possible to pursue sustainable alternatives to outdated waste policies.
Work might take Brian to Meath on a regular basis, and he shares plenty of GAA banter with his fellow colleagues, but when it comes to Gaelic football he's a true Louth man, having grown up in a community that is steeped in the strong tradition of the GAA.
While it's some time since Brian has played for his local club, St Kevin's, his connection and support with the club has never been stronger as his wife Linda is one of the dual players in the club playing both camogie and ladies football. "I see at first hand and know all too well the level and commitment that it takes for any player to excel in their chosen sport," he says. "My wife Linda is either training or playing most evenings. She and her sister Ann Marie are the only two current players in the Kevin's camogie club having played since its foundation back 30 years ago. The St Kevin's senior camogie team were extremely unlucky and disappointed in failing to capture the senior championship this year, when they lost by just one point in the final."
On the flip side, Linda and the football ladies of Philipstown had a very successful year in winning the summer 9-aside league and then later in the year taking the intermediate league, in which they overcame Dowdallshill from Dundalk. Linda was instrumental on the day of the final, starting out in the half forward line where her pace and fitness level proved to be a key element in Kevin's victory.
There was further great excitement in the club and community around Philipstown as Linda's fellow team player, Susan Byrne, represented her club on the Louth ladies team that reached the All Ireland junior final in Croke Park. Susan, one of the younger and very talented players in the Kevin's club, enjoyed great support from the locals along with Brian, Linda and their three children, Eoghan, Páidí and Erin May.
St Kevin's is very much a club that values and brings families in the community together as they cater for men, ladies, boys and girls of all ages. The club boasts an exceptional underage structure in both football and camogie and the McCabes' eldest son Eoghan has just recently started football in the under-6 group, in which he enjoys the chance to meet his friends and have fun. "One never really retires from a club," says Brian. "You simply stay involved but from a different angle, so I'm all set for continuing trips to the local pitch with my three children in the coming years."
For more information on the services offered by Panda Waste, check out www.panda.ie or call 1850 626262. Tweet
