Imperial Innovations Group Regulatory News (IVO)

13 Feb 2007 08:00

Imperial Innovations Group plc13 February 2007 Imperial Innovations Group plc ("Imperial Innovations") Recycling Commercialisation Centre signs up rubber recycling company Imperial Innovations Group plc (AIM: IVO), the technology commercialisation andinvestment company, today announces that Rubber-Regen LLP ("Rubber-Regen") hassigned a contract to receive incubation services and support from the ImperialInnovations Recycling Commercialisation Centre (the "Centre"), an incubationfacility contracted to Imperial Innovations by WRAP (Waste & Resources ActionProgramme). Rubber-Regen is the first company to be selected for the RecyclingCommercialisation Centre, on the basis that it has the potential to overcomeexisting limitations in rubber recycling and permit significant reuse of usedrubber in new tyres. Rubber-Regen is developing novel devulcanisation technology that will permit thereuse of end-of-life rubber tyres in new rubber compounds. Currently, it isestimated that 40 million, 250 million and 290 million tyres reach the end oftheir life cycle annually in the UK, EU and US respectively (Source: DTI,European Commission, Rubber Manufacturers Association) and very little recycledrubber is used in new tyre manufacture. The Centre will assist in the development of Rubber-Regen and help to bringtheir new and innovative recycling technology to market by - providing resources for technical testing and business planning - augmenting the existing management team - providing access to funds and investors - developing and exploiting product markets Susan Searle, CEO, Imperial Innovations, said, "We are delighted to welcome Rubber-Regen into the Recycling CommercialisationCentre. The company is based on strong Intellectual Property which will make asignificant impact in recycling and at the same time create commercial andbusiness opportunities in the sector. " Tony Hough, CEO, Rubber-Regen, said, "Significant reuse of end-of-life tyres in the production of new tyres isRubber-Regen's goal. Although the technology to achieve this is in its infancy,we are delighted to have the support of the Recycling Commercialisation Centreand we look forward to working with them to develop our intellectual propertyand realise its full potential." Steve Creed, Director of Business Growth, WRAP, said, "The Recycling Commercialisation Centre is designed to stimulate growth inrecycling by supporting new and innovative products, technologies and businessmodels. Rubber-Regen is a prime example of the sort of company that WRAPintended to help through establishing the facility and we hope their examplewill encourage more recycling companies to consider the opportunities that thecentre provides." -Ends- For more information contact: Imperial InnovationsSusan Searle, Chief Executive Officer +44 (0)20 7594 6591Lucy Ahfong, Marketing Communications Executive +44 (0)20 7594 6644Glenn Janes, Recycling Commercialisation Manager +44 (0)20 7594 1314 M:CommunicationsPatrick d'Ancona / Eleanor Williamson +44 (0)20 7153 1539 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 in66 technology businesses and has completed 90 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, Advanced Tissue Therapies Limited, Cardiak Limited,Circassia Holdings Limited, deltaDOT Limited, Equinox Pharma Limited, FutureWaves PTE Limited, HeliSwirl Technologies Limited, InforSense Limited, LontraLimited, Midaz Lasers Limited, NanoBioDesign Limited, Nexeon Limited, NovaTheraLimited, 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 Rubber Regen Rubber-Regen LLP is developing technology for the de-vulcanisation of curedrubber using supercritical fluid processes. Initial tests have focused on rubberderived from end-of-life tyres with the aim of enabling significant increases inthe levels of recycled tyre rubber that can be used in the production of newtyres and other high value rubber products. 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