One51 acquires e-cycler Immark

Ireland-based One51 has acquired an 80% stake in Swiss recycling company Immark and its sister firms Drisa Entsorgungs and Swissglas. Immark, whose Commercial Director Rolf Jeker and Technical Director Rudolf Hafnet will retain a 20% share in the business, specialises in the recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).
One51 and Immark were already partners in WEEE recycling joint venture TechRec, which is active throughout Ireland. One51’s e-scrap recycling operations will be headed by Immark, with TechRec becoming a member of this division.
The two companies are planning to set up recycling plants in co-operation with local partners in ’several key markets’€™. The aim is to provide the electrical and electronic equipment industry with an ‘€˜international network of recycling solutions and other services related to waste management’€™. The companies are aiming to set up two recycling plants in the UK within the next two years. In addition, they are reportedly close to signing several agreements with partners in Shanghai.
One51 claims to have taken over a further three e-scrap recyclers and plans to add four or five more companies to its portfolio during 2007. Immark, whose presence in the WEEE recycling market stretches back to 1986, claims to be the market leader in Switzerland and is also active in Italy and Germany. TechRec Ireland operates a recycling plant in Dublin for small household appliances and IT equipment, while TechRec Northern Ireland recycles fridges and freezers at a plant in Dungannon.
One51’€™s other interests within the waste sector include hazardous waste management specialist Sita Environmental, formerly a subsidiary of the French group of the same name.