Hydrodec of North America, an Ohio-based naphthenic oil treatment company, has been acquired by a respected British-based environmental group. The company, which collects and hydrotreats used transformer and naphthenic oils at its Canton facility in northeast Ohio, has been taken over by UK firm Slicker Recycling Ltd for an undisclosed figure. The acquisition sees Slicker, which is headquartered near Birmingham in the UK, increasing its global footprint and building its circular economy credentials after the 2020 opening of its $95 million base oil re-refinery in Denmark through a joint venture with its German partner, Avista AG.
The deal sees a team of 19 employees at the Canton refining business becoming part of Slicker, with the company’s managing director, Mark Olpin, pledging to grow the business further. Olpin said: “Hydrodec is a well-respected, technologically advanced and successful business with customers across the United States and global energy sector. The SUPERfine transformer oil the company produces is essential to run electric grids and the carbon credits the process generates is a global first for this type of activity. That’s a really exciting opportunity for us and not only does the acquisition allow us to enter the north American market for the first time, but it is a perfect fit in terms of our future plans and green credentials.
“We are recognised as a leader in sustainable waste management in the UK and Europe so the deal allows us to broaden our network, build on the success we’ve seen both in the UK and at our re-refinery in Denmark, and ultimately accelerate our pursuit of doing the right things for our planet on a larger scale. This fantastic opportunity has come when the spotlight has been on the COP26 conference with world leaders agreeing a series of environmental and net-zero commitments. The circular economy and the private sector are vital elements of that jigsaw so we are delighted to be playing our role, expanding further, and taking our green credentials to new customers here in the United States.”
Hydrodec received carbon credit approval from the American Carbon Registry in 2016 enabling its product to be sold with a carbon offset and creating an incremental revenue stream. A recent US study has estimated that the global transformer oil market reached a value of $1.5 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow by a further 11.5% by 2026.