Three Irish companies operating in the clean-tech and manufacturing areas – AMCS, Cork Plastics and Anua – have signed contracts to the value of €1.5m with three French companies.
The news was announced today by Enterprise Ireland during an official visit to Paris by President Michael D Higgins.
Headquartered in Limerick, AMCS provides integrated environmental software and solutions for the recycling and waste management industry. The company has secured a contract with SIRTOM de Sedan, a group of local authorities in the Ardennes region of France that manage the collection, recycling and treatment of household waste in more than 44 cities.
SIRTOM de Sedan is implementing ‘pay-as-you-throw’ legislation for domestic waste collection in France. The local authorities will use the collection data from the AMCS technology to measure the amount of recycling taking place in order to generate invoices for residents.
According to Enterprise Ireland, AMCS has created four jobs in Ireland since mid-2012 to support its entry into the French market. The company is aiming to create a further 10 jobs in Ireland over the next 18 months.
Last November, AMCS acquired the Swedish software company Wånelid AB Group.
Waste-water technologies
Anua, part of the Bord na Móna Group, designs waste-water management and water-reuse technologies.
Together with its French partner, L’Eau Pure, Anua has signed its first contract with SIAAP, a French municipal authority that provides waste-water treatment for almost 12m inhabitants in the greater Paris area.
The Anua/L’Eau Pure contract with SIAAP will be worth €400,000. It is for the refurbishment of odour control units at Seire Aval, in the Paris area.
PVC manufacturer
Finally, Cork Plastics, a manufacturer and supplier of PVC products and services for the agricultural, construction and building sectors, has signed a partnership agreement with the French building merchant Sarl Duluc.
The French company has signed an initial contract to purchase €1m worth of Cork Plastics’ PVC facia and cladding.
Speaking today in Paris, Higgins congratulated the three Irish companies on their export contracts.
“People who are willing to innovate, to take chances and to turn ideas into reality are the people we need to lead our economy to recovery and growth,” he said.
Frank Ryan, chief executive at Enterprise Ireland, said France is the third largest export market for Irish companies. He said exports from Irish-owned companies to France grew by 14pc in 2011.
“While conditions in international markets remain challenging, the achievements of these three Irish companies demonstrate that innovative and ambitious Irish exporters are performing extraordinarily well in a mature market like France, where they face tough competition from both local players and other highly skilled economies,” said Ryan.