Walshestown Restoration Limited is an EPA waste licence facility based in Naas, Co Kildare which has been in operation 18 months now. Building Ireland caught up with its co-director Mervyn Ross to learn more about the company.
These are busy times at Walshestown Restoration Limited in Co Kildare and company founders Mervyn Ross and Patrick Meade would not have it any other way.
Since being set-up in February of last year, business has been brisk at the facility located close by the Punchestown Racecourse and Mervyn and Patrick are continually looking at ways to broaden their company’s horizons.
Next up on the agenda for their company looks to be washing and cleaning soils but, for now, the focus is very much on continuing to grow the business, having enjoyed such rapid success over the past 18 months.
Walshestown Restoration Limited operates an Inert Waste EPA Licensed Landfill in Naas, Co. Kildare and are licensed to accept soils, including soils from brownfield sites and other inert waste for recovery and landfilling.
The company provides its clients with a cost effective option for their existing waste streams and its location offers transport cost savings as compared to their competitor locations.
Walshestown Restoration Limited also provides full traceability and certificates of recovery and allows its customers to maximize their offering to their clients by providing recovered products.
Mervyn Ross is the Facility Manager at Walshestown Restoration Limited and also happens to be the company’s joint owner. He was good enough to take time out from what has become an increasingly busy schedule as of late to give Building Ireland the lowdown on what they’re all about.
“We’re in Walshestown, Naas, Co Kildare at the back of the Punchestown Racecourse,” Mervyn outlined.
“The company was set-up in February 2016 and at the moment we have 15 staff working here. Myself and Patrick Meade are the two directors of the company and basically what we do here is operate an EPA waste licence facility and we’re allowed to recover inert waste from construction and demolition sites.
“The site we’re on here is about 100 acres in size and we’re licensed to accept 330,000 tonnes a year.”
Mervyn’s background has saw him immersed in waste management and construction most of his working life.
He has previously worked for KTK Sand & Gravel Limited as the company’s manager and spent 10 years working as a mine surveyor for Irish Salt Mining & Exploration Company Limited between the years 1990 and 2000.
Patrick Meade possesses a similar background to his business partner and when the two put their heads together back in 2015 the decision to open their own inert waste landfill became evidently obvious.
The pair have hit the ground running and Mervyn’s confident that their respective backgrounds can help them negotiate any hurdles that may arise in the future.
“I’ve been involved in mining quarrying and waste companies for the last 25 years,” he stated. “I worked with Greenstar, which are part of the Panda group, as well and I’ve also been involved in environmental consultancy down through the years.”
Needless to say, Walshestown Restoration Limited’s directorship is well-schooled in the industry and the company’s books are showing it at present
According to Mervyn, they’re as busy as ever down at their facility in Naas and it’s how they intend to keep things moving forward as the Irish construction industry continues to recover strongly.
“We’re extremely busy right now,” he stated.
“Obviously there’s a lack of facilities to cater for the construction upturn and we’ve been happy to provide companies with those facilities.
“There are very few landfills left around and a lot of the construction material has nowhere to go, so we’ve been happy to oblige and, of course, being so close to Dublin helps as well.”
The company’s clients include the likes of M & N Groundworks, KC Civil Engineering, Hegarty Demolition, Moyglare Sand & Gravel and Frank Pratt & Sons, to name but a few.
The hopes for Mervyn and Patrick is to continually grow their clientele list over the coming months and years and if you were to ask the former to try and pinpoint a reason for such rapid success in a short space of time he’d give it to you straight.
“From our point of view, we are fully compliant with EPA regulations,” Mervyn stated plainly.
“With the increase in business, as well as regulations, a lot of our clients are looking for legitimate disposal outlets. The licensing is in place and we provide the necessary documentation as well.”
Any plans for expansion on the horizon?
“We’re in the process of constructing our waste processing area,” he said. “Long-term we are looking at washing and cleaning soils but for now we’re concentrating on our waste processing area and hopefully all goes well.”
Great to hear.
Taken from Building Ireland Magazine, November 2017, Vol 3 No 10
