Environmental Competition – Kirovsk, Russia

FM Environmental has sponsored the Eco Award since the Environmental Competition started. The competition is now in its fourth year and has been a great success. We are amazed at the very high standard throughout and congratulate all of the students who participated in it to improve the quality of life in Kirovsk.

Eamonn Fitzpatrick, Chairman of FM Environmental travelled to Kirovsk to present the awards in person to the students. He stated “It is important that we take pride in our town, our area and our country. Young people can be an example to us all by giving freely so much of their time but it is up to the rest of us to provide the support and encouragement to allow you to do the job.”

During the past 12 months all Directors and Managers attended the Crestcom Bullet Proof Management Training with Alan Patterson. The training consisted of 24 different modules which was conducted by the Crestcom trainer at the Company’s offices. The training workshops featured exercises taken directly from the acclaimed Bullet Proof Manager Course.

Alan Patterson & Garry McCreery from Crestcom presented the FM Management Team with their certification on the successful completion of the Training. Managing Director Kevin Fitzpatrick commended Crestcom for the training programme:

“We often give employees the authority and responsibility of management without giving them the proper training to back this up. Crestcom Bullet Proof Management Training is an excellent and professionally delivered programme that covers all the fundamentals of management in a simple and practical way.”

Pictured in photograph:
Kevin Fitzpatrick, Noel Mills, Pat Kane, Mario Farrugia, Eamon Fitzpatrick, Nicola Whyte, Des Murphy, Gerry Torley & Ronan Byrne.
Eoin Carragher missing from photo.

Moises Pasquel Muňoz of Equip has been distributing the Grease Guardian to Mexico since the beginning of the year and has been pleased with the reaction of customers to the new units recently installed in a well known supermarket chain.

This product which is already well established around the world is designed to take fats, oils and grease from commercial waste water. The units have been rigorously tested by the control boards and the samples taken have all met the standards. “Installing Grease Guardians has helped the store to meet the strict local regulations” stated Moises.

Moises visit to Newry will also include intense training as this is his first visit to Northern Ireland and the island of Ireland. He will also visit the local attractions and tour through the scenic Mourne Mountains.

Pictured in photograph:
Eamon Fitzpatrick, Manager Grease Guardian Department – FM Environmental Ltd. Moises Pasquel Muňoz, Equip Mexico. Kevin Fitzpatrick, Managing Director – FM Environmental Ltd.

FM Environmental Ltd has launched a 10l/s Grease Guardian designed for basement installations. The D10 separates and removes solids and grease and has an inbuilt self cleaning system. The unit has already been supplied by FM to hotels in Malta, Cyprus and Dubai.
FM believe that the D10 gives them an option of a high flow centralized unit which can act as a stand alone product or combined with smaller at source Grease Guardians for complete protection of large facilities.
“The product gives us another option for large applications that produce extraordinary volumes of grease and have large flow rates to deal with” explains Reuben Gauchi Malta Office Manager
The D10 will be used in industrial applications as well as commercial and it highlights FM’s commitment to continuous development to its grease management range of products.

On Sunday the 23rd May 2009 FM Environmental’s Kevin Fitzpatrick completed his second long-distance triathlon, the Lanzarote Ironman. Often referred to as the “World’s Toughest Ironman” Lanzarote with its strong winds and mountainous terrain truly tests the endurance of those athletes prepared to take it on.

Having completed Ironman France in Nice in 2008 Kevin realised he enjoyed the multi-discipline sport that required you to swim 3.8km, bike 180km and run a full 42.2km marathon one after the other, and so he set his sights on Lanzarote. Along with over 1300 other athletes from 35 countries Kevin started the day at 4.30am, hit the water at the start-line at 7.00am and completed the course by 9.16pm that evening. His 14-hour journey took him 2 laps around the beautiful bay at Puerto del Carmen, a bike ride around the entire island of Lanzarote, followed by and out-and-back run course along the bustling Puerto del Carmen promenade.

“The island is one great lump of volcanic rock that, throughout the day, is constantly being battered by the North Atlantic winds,” commented Kevin. “You have to climb an altitude of over 2500m which though spectacular in parts is painful throughout!”

The tough conditions contributed to Kevin suffering a crash on his bike where he gashed his arm and dislocated a thumb making the last few hours of the bike leg particularly painful. However he was able to get to the start of the marathon and finished off the race in reasonable shape.

“It was longer than I had hoped, mainly because of the tough bike course. But the sensation in completing the race is a hard one to beat so I’ll be lining up another one for next year!” promised Kevin.

Kevin’s split times:

Swim: 1:20
Bike: 7:55
Run: 4:35
Total: 14:16

At a reception hosted by the High Commission In Kuala Lumpur, Eamonn Fitzpatrick Chairman of FM Environmental Ltd signed an agreement with Engineered Products & Services in Malaysia appointing them as main distributor for the ‘Grease Guardian’ in South East Asia.

This product which is already well established in the region, is designed to take fats, oils and grease from waste water. Last year 25 units were installed at the new terminal 3 in Singapore Airport and this agreement will enhance product sales in the region.

Engineered Product & Services sent a member of their staff to Newry for training and recently FM visited the market on an Invest NI Trade Mission.

Pictured in the photo:-
Eamonn Fitzpatrick, Chairman FM Environmental
Ken Choong, General Manager Engineered Product & Services – Malaysia
Trevor Lewis, Director of Trade British High Commission – Kuala Lumpur
Clare Gadd, Invest N.I. Mission Manager

Wastewater treatment and re-use is increasingly being integrated in the utilisation of water resources in the private industry, especially the hotel industry, FM Environmental (Malta) Ltd said. The eventuality of higher water tariffs and possible introduction of a sewage tax in the near future, has triggered the local hotel industry to invest in wastewater treatment technologies, and these hotels are benefiting from considerable operational cost savings.

The company said that one of these success stories is the five-star Hilton Hotel in Malta, which is recycling wastewater for second class purposes, re-using it for toilet flushings and landscape irrigation among others. The treated wastewater is totally disinfected and treated to the highest standards of applications, and hence safeguarded from any health hazard.

Apart from enhancing a ‘green hotel’ policy, such an investment has resulted in lower first class water consumption bills and hence lower operational costs. In many cases on-site wastewater treatment is being utilised as a cost-cutting tool, especially when one considers that payback periods result to be within sustainable time frames. Ing. Joseph Restall, chief engineer of the Hilton Hotel Malta stated that ‘the installation of an STP at our hotel has proven to be a success in reducing water generation. The water produced is used in irrigation and in the second class water system, saving over 5,000 cubic metres a year. For us this has been a success story, reinforcing Hilton Malta’s commitment to environmental sustainability.’

On a national scale, wastewater treatment in the private industry will reduce the burden on the heavily exploited aquifers and can reduce the demand from the desalination plants, which consume a lot of costly energy.

In order to re-use wastewater, it must be treated to relatively high standards, depending upon the re-use application. On a positive note, small to medium sized wastewater treatment plant technology is available in Malta. FM Environmental (Malta) Ltd is one of the key players in this sector, providing custom designed wastewater treatment technologies. The company was set up in 1998 and has manufacturing premises in Marsa industrial estate. FM Environmental (Malta) Ltd is part of FM Environmental group of Northern Ireland and has over 35 years experience, in the wastewater treatment industry overseas.

The company can offer various treatment technologies depending on the treated water quality required, type of application and site conditions. Such treatment plants occupy very small footprints and can be installed either at basement level, outdoor below or above ground installations. Technologies vary from traditional biological treatment in various forms to the latest innovations in the sector, such as membrane bio-reactor treatment.

Applications can start from single house installations going up to small communities, hotels or any other sites with up to a population of 5,000.

Newry Junior Chamber held its AGM in the Whistledown Hotel last Friday 16th January. Nicola Whyte HR & Marketing Manager with FM Environmental was elected as the President for 2009. The election of officers was chaired by Mary Doran, President of Newry Chamber of Commerce & Trade.
For further information on Newry Junior Chamber visit the web site on www.newryjuniorchamber.com