Flinders Bio to expand business

Flinders University spin-off Flinders Bioremediation is continuing to expand its business operations despite the recent loss of founder and managing director Dr Nick McClure, who passed away in September.

"There is no doubt that a large part of the company was built on Nick's reputation, there is a vacuum to fill, but we also draw a lot of other expertise from the university," said Dr Richard Stewart, recently appointed operations manager for the company.

"The company has built up a substantial knowledge base and set of technical skills over the last couple of years. I feel confident that we can offer the same level of high quality services in waste management and soil remediation," he said.

Stewart said that a new business plan was currently being put into place and decisions were being made about the strategic direction of the company going forward.

Flinders Bioremediation uses biotechnology to solve environmental problems and has worked on bioremediation of contaminated soil as well as green organic waste management and composting. The company has bioremediation and composting capabilities ranging from laboratory scale to pilot and full-scale facilities.

According to Stewart, Flinders Bioremediation also has access to a broad R&D program to ensure that innovative technologies are available to further enhance the core capabilities of the company.

The company received a Biotechnology Innovation Fund (BIF) grant in March to develop microbial remediation methods for treating soil and water contaminated by coal tars and other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.