A COMPANY has made profits of more than £4.5 million -- from waste.

Greater Manchester Waste Limited (GMW), operator of the Raikes Lane waste disposal site, has announced that profits for the year to 31 March were jalmost £1 million better than budget.

An improvement by more than £800,000 on the previous year, this will result in a £2.3 million dividend payment to the company's only shareholder, the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (GMWDA).

Formed in 1995, GMW is an 'arms-length' private waste management company controlled by GMWDA. The firm has been responsible for the safe treatment and disposal of almost 1.5 million tonnes of municipal solid waste each year.

The capacity of GMW's operations, however has expanded from being a large scale waste processor, and now includes collections, materials recovery, waste to energy and recycling.

This diversification has lead to more partnerships and contracts being undertaken. With the creation of two new companies, Greater Manchester Waste (Manchester Collections) Limited and Greater Manchester Waste (Stockport Collections) Limited the GMW group has established a business which provides refuse collection to over 300,000 households in Greater Manchester.

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