Serving the Teesside Business Community | 69
/ REDCAR AND CLEVELAND NEWS
WHY GREEN LIZARD CHOSE WILTON
Wilton International, near Redcar, once
the home to Europe’s largest chemical
site and now enjoying a regeneration, is
the size of 1,300 football pitches.
#TalkingUpTeesside
Green Lizard Technologies has acquired pilot
plant, office and laboratory space at the Wilton
Centre to test manufacture Glycidol.
A
multi award-winning university
spin-out technology company has
chosen Teesside’s Wilton Centre as its
production development base, with an initial
£6m investment creating four new full-time
jobs.
Green Lizard Technologies, a spin-out from
Queen’s University Belfast, has acquired
pilot plant, office and laboratory space at the
Wilton Centre to test manufacture Epoxy
Propanol (EP), also known as Glycidol, which
can be used to create greener, cleaner and
safer surfactants (for use in detergents and
soaps), industrial paints and coatings and
speciality chemicals.
The Wilton Centre will house Europe’s
first production plant for EP. At present, it is
primarily manufactured in Japan, with a small
amount produced in the US.
Should the pilot production plant prove
successful, Green Lizard and its development
partners will invest some $25m (£17m)
in a full-scale production plant at Wilton,
employing more than 30 people. This could
open by 2021.
Green Lizard has developed patented,
safe and sustainable technology which
coverts Glycerol, a waste product from the
manufacture of bio-diesel, a renewable fuel
made using natural vegetable oils and fats,
into EP. Glycerol is used in food production,
but increasing production of bio-diesel to
meet international targets has led to a glut.
Green Lizard has partnered with Malaysian
company FGV, the world’s largest crude
palm oil producer, and with US-based
Dixie Chemical to develop industrial scale
manufacturing of EP from Glycerol, winning
prestigious international awards in the
process.
Wilton business invests
to support growth
SALES UP 10%
FOR MPI
L
eading centre for steel research,
the Materials Processing Institute
(MPI), is targeting further export
growth after seeing turnover rise
by 10%, following a series of global
contract wins.
The deals have contributed to
the institute’s growth, including
a multi-million-pound research
partnership with steel giant, Liberty
House Group, to develop advanced
manufacturing processes and a new
generation of products across its
plants in the UK and Australia.
Partnerships have also been
secured in Europe, Asia, Africa
and South America in the energy,
mining and minerals, petrochemical,
chemical and automotive sectors,
due to the institute’s expertise in
advanced materials and processes.
£3.7m cash boost for Kirkleatham site
More than 200 new jobs and apprenticeships
will be created as part of a £3.7m investment
into an historic walled garden in Redcar.
Tees Valley Combined Authority’s cabinet
approved the investment to bring the Grade
II listed historic Walled Garden back into use
after 30 years, creating a mix of formal and
produce gardens, event spaces, food and
retail opportunities.
It will provide a major attraction in the
North-East that supports employment
and training opportunities in the catering,
hospitality and horticulture sectors.
Wilton-based business Procomm Site
Services has secured further financial
backing from Barclays for investment in a
new indoor facility.
Established in 2002, Procomm Site
Services provide accommodation facilities
with national coverage from their four
strategically placed depots.
The firm says its new 2,900 sq m
facility has reduced preparation times
and increased quality levels. Procomm
employs 104 staff locally and turnover for
the year is expected to exceed £11.7m.
SABIC’S SAFETY JOY
SABIC staff and contractors have helped
give a big boost to four local charities after
achieving outstanding safety standards
during vital maintenance work to one of
the region’s major chemical plants.
There were no safety incidents during
a six-week period as more than 240
staff and contractors worked on the
“turnaround” of SABIC’s Butadiene 3
plant at Wilton.
The process, which brought £6m into
the local economy via contracts, services
and materials, involved a complete
shutdown of the plant, with SABIC
donating £1,000 each to North of England
Children’s Cancer Research, Redcar &
Cleveland Mind, Zoe’s Place Baby Hospice
and Redcar RNLI.