SCFI invests €2m to drive export sales

IRISH wastewater treatment firm SCFI — which is backed by technology and telecoms entrepreneur Gilbert Little — has unveiled a modular demonstration unit for its green technology after investing €2m in its development in a bid to boost its export sales.

Incorporated in three specially-adapted shipping containers, the technology can now be demonstrated anywhere in the world.

The new unit uses the company’s patented AquaCritox technology, which works in an environmentally-friendly way to treat waste sludges from sewage treatment and industrial processes by heating and pressurising water to the point where it is “supercritical”. An EU eco-innovation grant of €1m, which helped the project overcome technological and commercial hurdles, was matched by SCFI itself, the company said.

The firm is working on six long-term projects — in Spain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Italy and two in California. Their respective value is believed to range up to €85m, and from demonstration size, right up to large-scale installations.

“Through a process called hydrothermal oxidation, we can completely convert waste into harmless substances like water, CO2 and inert oxides, while at the same time generating energy,” said chief executive John O’Regan added.

“It is a sustainable technology that can tackle some of the biggest waste problems facing the world today.

“Seeing is often believing when it comes to new technologies, so this is a major step forward for us in proving both the technical and commercial effectiveness of AquaCritox to our potential clients anywhere in the world,”

In 2010 SCFI sold a 10pc stake to investment and wealth-management firm Key Capital, which remains a shareholder, as does Little — who is based in Dalkey and has investments in other technology firms — and O’Regan.

Cork-based O’Regan has a strong history in the sector. He sold his wastewater treatment and process-manufacturing firm Envirotech to Irish conglomerate DCC in 2001.