OIL CLEANING BIO-PRODUCTS LTD.
PRESS RELEASE
OIL CLEANING BIO-PRODUCTS LTD. IN FIVE NATION EURO-RESEARCH AGREEMENT
November 1995
Oil Cleaning Bio-Products Ltd. has entered into an outline agreement with research institutions and environmental engineering and consulting companies from the Netherlands, Belgium, Hungary and Lithuania concerning a project which will research the development of new techniques for the bioremediation of contaminated land, including the use of OCBP's "Heg" products.
The project will be part of the "Eureka" multinational research programme in the field of biotechnology, which is sponsored by the European Union. Participants will identify a number of particularly problematic aspects of in situ bioremediation, analyse existing techniques, devise new bioremediation strategies, select appropriate sites and carry out strictly monitored field tests, including the use of bacterial inoculation with OCBP's "Hegol" and "Hegrem" products. OCBP Ltd. will also play its part in the marketing of the successful techniques which it is hoped will emerge.
Commenting on the agreement, OCBP Ltd's Managing Director, Richard Genochio, said: "I am very pleased with what emerged from talks in Brussels last week. There is great enthusiasm amongst all the partners. From OCBP's point of view this is an excellent opportunity for product development in an important field. The abilities of our range of "Heg" bacterial products are well established in a multitude of more conventional industrial applications, including routine cleansing, degreasing and absorbing, as well as the bioremediation of shallow hydrocarbon contamination in soil. We now want to explore the possibilities for our products in the field of in situ bioremediation of deeper contamination. This is a major challenge throughout Europe and elsewhere. The science of it is relatively new and rapidly evolving. There are immense commercial opportunities and social benefits to be gained by advancing knowledge of specialist applications. This kind of collaborative approach amongst organisations with complementary skills and contributions will I am sure amount to more than the sum of their parts. I am hoping for real innovation - which is what the "Eureka" programme is all about."
NOTES FOR EDITORS
1) OCBP Ltd. is the sole and worldwide supplier of the "Heg" products, full details of which are set out in the enclosed brochure. They include conventional biodegradable absorbents, and oil-degrading bacteria in biodegradable media of surfactants, solvents and absorbents.2) The participants in the proposed project are: The Hungarian Technical University of Budapest; The Hungarian National Council for Technological Development; The Dutch Institute of Environmental Sciences N.V. ("TNO"); Environmental Remediation Management N.V. (Belgium); SeghersEngineeringWater N.V. (Belgium, Project Co- ordinator); Biocentras Ltd. (Lithuania); The Commercial and Marketing Research Association (Lithuania); Elgoscar International Ltd. (Hungary); and Oil Cleaning Bio-Products Ltd. (United Kingdom).
3) The world-wide market for the treatment of contaminated land has been independently estimated at $5 billion in 1993, and forecast to grow to $20 billion in 2000.
4) Approved "Eureka" projects can receive up to 50% financing from the "Eureka" budget.
5) Further information from: Oil Cleaning Bio-Products Ltd., PO Box 46, Royston, Hertfordshire SG8 9PH, England. Telephone (+44) (0) 1763 287 749.