Recycling and waste software and technology developer AMCS Group, Howell, Mich., has accepted a $32 million round of financing.

The investment was led by venture capital firm Highland Capital Partners Europe and includes support from AMCS’ existing investor, Investec Ventures, through the Ulster Bank Diageo Venture Fund. According to an AMCS news release, the new round of funding will be used to finance expansion in the United States, Canada and Europe.

AMCS was founded in 2003 by Jimmy Martin and Austin Ryan and was designed to provide what it calls end-to-end integrated software solutions for the waste, recycling and environmental sectors.

“Securing funding of this scale underpins our commitment to grow in new and existing markets,” says
Martin, CEO of AMCS Group. “These funds provide us with the opportunity to invest further in our market-leading ELEMOS software and vehicle technology to meet our ever-expanding customer needs while also increasing our reach through targeted acquisitions in growth markets.”

Adds Martin, “We are excited to be working with Highland Capital Partners and Investec Ventures, and the experience they bring will play an important part in further developing AMCS Group.”

Following the investment, two members of Highland Capital Europe’s senior team—Fergal Mullen, founder and partner, and Tony Zappala, another partner—will join the AMCS Group board of directors.

Commenting on the investment, Zappala says, “AMCS Group is a very attractive business with patented unique software solutions that is leading the way business and municipalities make the move from simply handling waste to managing resources and providing better services to customers.”

Mullen says, “AMCS is exactly the kind of high growth, world-leading company we are seeking to invest in and support via our new European Growth Fund. We will do our utmost to help them achieve their vision by leveraging our global network and our experience of similarly fast growing global leaders.”

John Dolan, partner in Investec Ventures, which has been an investor in AMCS for several years, says, “We’ve been supporters of AMCS for a number of years and are delighted to complete this co-investment round with an international partner like Highland Capital Partners Europe. The investment positions the company for further growth and will help consolidate its reputation as a global leader in providing software solutions for the waste and recycling markets.”

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), Washington, D.C.,says it is devoting more resources to the fight against scrap metal theft. The association has hired Brady Mills as its director of law enforcement outreach. In the new role, Mills will be responsible for working with the association’s recently formed Law Enforcement Advisory Council to develop and implement a law enforcement training program as well as to coordinate outreach with the law enforcement community.

“I am very pleased that Brady has joined our team,” says Robin Wiener, president of ISRI. “With more than 32 years in federal and state law enforcement, Brady’s background further strengthens our efforts to fight metals theft. I look forward to the positive outcomes that will result from the collaboration between Brady and ISRI’s newly created Law Enforcement Advisory Council in the development of a law enforcement training program and other outreach initiatives.”

Mills recently retired from the U.S. Secret Service after more than 27 years. He began his career in the Secret Service in 1986 in the Detroit field office followed by field assignments in the Washington and Fresno, Calif., offices, and as resident agent in charge of the Sacramento, Calif., office.

Mills’ responsibilities will also include overseeing ScrapTheftAlert.com, the industry’s online system for law enforcement to notify local scrap dealers of metals thefts.

The chairman of the BIR International Trade Council, Robert Voss, of Voss International (UK), has been appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), an important honour of the British monarchy.

Voss earned the honor in recognition of his services to British industry and for voluntary service in the UK, including the mentoring of young entrepreneurs.

Voss is also president of the EUROMETREC, the European Metal Trade and Recycling Federation based in Brussels.

E. Flückiger AG of Switzerland works with a new Sennebogen 835 Electro mounted on an existing rail section.

Family enterprise E. Flückiger AG based in Rothrist, Switzerland, has purchased a Sennebogen 835 Electro mounted on a rail undercarriage. The company specializes in building demolition and the processing of steel and metal scrap.

The new E-Series Sennebogen 835 has been in use at the Rothrist scrapyard since mid-2013. For this application, the material handling machine was mounted on a rail undercarriage in the factory, making it possible to more easily place the machine on the company’s existing rail section, Sennebogen reports.

The management team at Flückiger AG says the machine’s performance and economical electrical technology are well-suited to the company’s needs and culture.

Powered by a 160-kilowatt/400-volt electric motor, the 835 E-series is designed to be energy-efficient and gentle on the environment, Sennebogen says. The unit is built to offer operating and service cost savings of up to 50 percent relative to conventional diesel machines, the company reports. Power is supplied via a laterally attached cable drum, designed so that the machine can be moved flexibly over a length of up to 50 meters.

E. Flückiger is using the handler to sort delivered scrap materials into the storage areas, separated by type, and the unit is moving up to 600 metric tons of material, the company says. The elevated track rail, mounted at a height of 4.8 meters, enables effective utilization of space, the company adds.

The company’s handler is equipped to handle a working range of 20 meters and is capable of loading trucks with the attached 650 I grab, Sennebogen says. The handler is situated to sort materials into surrounding boxes and charge the 1000-metric-ton scrap metal shears, allowing the machine to serve as a logistical pivotal point at the yard.

The handler features Sennebogen’s elevated maXcab with armored glass, inclined windshield, LED lighting on the stick and boom and factory-standard camera system.