Imperial Innovations Group Regulatory News (IVO)

25 Jun 2007 10:00

Imperial Innovations Group plc25 June 2007 Imperial Innovations Group plc ("Imperial Innovations") Call for Recycling Inventions Imperial Innovations Group plc, the technology commercialisation and investmentcompany (AIM: IVO) launches a nationwide call for recycling propositions whichhave the potential to make a significant difference in reducing the amount ofwaste going to landfill in the UK. Up to £100,000 worth of commercial support is being offered to successfulapplicants by the Imperial Innovations Recycling Commercialisation Centre(IIRCC) to bring their ideas, technologies or products to market. The Centre will help successful applicants by: • providing market intelligence on the technology or product; • identifying and securing Intellectual Property; • building the business case; • funding product demonstration and proof of concept; and • identifying and securing seed finance. As Government, companies, and individuals move steadily towards materials reuseand recycling, waste is increasingly being seen as a resource. The entire UKrecycled product industry is already a £12 billion market. The specialistnon-metal recyclate reprocessing sector, a segment particularly attractive tonew technologies, is currently worth £1.2 billion/year and will need to increasein size by 60% by 2020 if the UK is to meet its obligations under the Europeanlegislation on recycling. Local authorities are working to reduce wastegeneration and better handle existing waste as they strive to comply withgovernment legislation. Waste issues have also leapt to the top of the agendafor businesses as they attempt to address how operations can be transformed toeliminate waste. A burgeoning market is emerging for new technologies addressingwaste issues. To date Imperial Innovations has engaged an array of ideas from sectors such asconstruction, retail manufacturing and local authority services. Examplesinclude technologies to devulcanise end of use tyres for reuse in new tyremanufacture; to use waste glass in the manufacture of building products withgreater than 97% recycled content; and to develop value added products frompaper sludges and aggregates. In the first instance, enquiries regarding potential propositions should beaddressed to Glenn Janes, IIRCC Manager, via email g.janes@imperial.ac.uk. Propositions must relate to the recycling of one or more of the following wastestreams: plastics, glass, paper, aggregates, wood, aggregates, organic waste, gypsumboard, tyres, batteries, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) andend of life vehicles (ELV). The Centre will assess the propositions and decidewhether the recycling invention is suitable and work with the candidate tocomplete an application form. Glenn Janes, Recycling Commercialisation Centre Manager, said, "Technologies that challenge how we use or reuse resources are critical in thedrive towards a sustainable economy. The Recycling Commercialisation Centreprovides the support to make these resource efficient technologies a reality." Susan Searle, CEO, Imperial Innovations, said, "We urge inventors, entrepreneurs or individuals to make contact with theRecycling Commercialisation Centre if they have a waste recycling proposition.The Centre has the resources and funds to accelerate the development of suitableopportunities." -Ends- For more information contact: Imperial InnovationsSusan Searle, Chief Executive Officer +44 (0)20 7594 6591Glenn Janes, Commercialisation Centre Manager +44 (0)20 7594 1314Lucy Ahfong, Marketing Communications Executive +44 (0)20 7594 6644 M:CommunicationsPatrick d'Ancona / Eleanor Williamson +44 (0)20 7153 1539 JPMorgan CazenoveSteve Baldwin +44(0)20 7588 2828 Notes to Editors About Imperial Innovations Imperial Innovations is one of the UK's leading technology transfer andcommercialisation companies. The company was founded in 1986 and its ordinaryshares admitted to trading on the AIM Market of London Stock Exchange plc inJuly 2006, raising £26 million. The company's integrated approach encompassesthe identification of ideas, protection of intellectual property, developmentand licensing of technology and formation, incubation and investment intechnology businesses. A wide range of technologies are commercialised withinthe areas of healthcare, energy, environment and emerging technology trends. Based at Imperial College London, the company has established equity holdings in70 technology businesses and has completed 116 commercial agreements. ImperialInnovations also commercialises technologies originating from outside ImperialCollege through incubation contracts with the Carbon Trust and WRAP and hasrelationships with a number of multinational corporations including BAE Systems. Imperial Innovations has invested in a range of spin-out companies, includingThe Acrobot Company Limited, BioCeramic Therapeutics Limited, Cardiak Limited,Circassia Holdings Limited, deltaDOT Limited, Equinox Pharma Limited, FutureWaves PTE Limited, HeliSwirl Technologies Limited, InforSense Limited, IXICOLimited, Lontra Limited, Midaz Lasers Limited, NanoBioDesign Limited, NexeonLimited, NovaThera Limited, Thiakis Limited and Veryan Medical Limited. Imperial Innovations currently holds shares in four technology businesses nowlisted on AIM including the fuel cell company, Ceres Power plc. www.imperialinnovations.co.uk About the Recycling Commercialisation Centre The Recycling Commercialisation Centre was launched in 2006 by ImperialInnovations and WRAP to support early stage businesses and bring new andinnovative recycled products, recycling technologies and business models tomarket. The Centre will assist individual entrepreneurs, university and corporatespin-outs and start-up businesses to find and exploit the best routes to marketsuch as, new business development, strategic partnering and licensing. About WRAP 1. WRAP works in partnership to encourage and enable businesses and consumers tobe more efficient in their use of materials and recycle more things more often.This helps to minimise landfill, reduce carbon emissions and improve ourenvironment. 2. Established as a not-for-profit company in 2000, WRAP is backed by Governmentfunding from Defra and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales andNorthern Ireland. 3. Working in seven key areas (Construction, Retail, Manufacturing, Organics,Business Growth, Behavioural Change, and Local Authority Support), WRAP's workfocuses on market development and support to drive forward recycling andmaterials resource efficiency within these sectors, as well as widercommunications and awareness activities including the multi-media nationalRecycle Now campaign for England. 4. More information on all of WRAP's programmes can be found at www.wrap.org.uk This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange