Sustainable Solutions

Northern Ireland is recognised as a centre of excellence when it comes to the manufacture of materials processing equipment for the quarry and mining industry, and CDE is a prime example of this. Now the company is at the forefront of providing technology that helps customers become more sustainable. Here Marc Jennings, CEO, talks to Emma Deighan.

Aglobal leader in wet processing technology, and a designer and manufacturer of equipment for applications in the sand and aggregates, mining, construction and demolition waste recycling and industrial sands sectors, Cooktown-headquartered CDE’s operations spread across five regions from Northern and Latin America to Australasia.

With a history that dates back three decades, the business’ reputation has stood it in great stead during the pandemic.

Marc says that whilst the pandemic has brought challenges, in recent months the business has experienced the “opposite of a slow down” with “the last few months actually much faster than ever”.

“I think that comes from being physically close to the customer. We deeply understand their issues,” he adds.

CDE has delivered over 2,000 projects across 100 countries during its lifetime, while simultaneously working to reduce water usage and create sustainability in the sector, as part of its brand ethos.

“We’re finding that larger businesses are now willing to invest in sustainable technologies and we know that’s the future.

“It’s a huge opportunity and that aligns perfectly with what we’ve been doing. We’ve seen huge transformational projects, it’s exciting times in CDE here.”

Indeed, the sustainability agenda is a priority at the business and it’s well prepared for the revolution that is imminent. Marc says the world is mining sand at an unsustainable rate

and the company’s new equipment will help lower mining of what is the single most mined commodity.

“We will focus our efforts on key strategic growth markets, on continuing to develop and deliver sustainable solutions with customers, and on the development of talent coming through our industry. CDE can create multiple solutions in this area; that’s where new growth is and where new markets lie.”

A mechanical engineering graduate, who also studied C&D waste recycling as part of a Masters degree in Engineering Management, Marc says he “understands it’s the right place to go”.

The CEO says the firm’s USP is its ability to “get closer to customers, creating solutions that are tailored to their needs”, making it, often, the supplier of choice time and again for huge players across the world. That too has kept it resilient during the pandemic.

Testament to this is one of its most recent transactions with SOMEVAM, a subsidiary of the Tunisian Sebri Group, an independent, family-owned – and operated group with interests in agriculture, food processing and quarrying. It recently made significant investment in the development of its second CDE wet processing solution for the production of high-specification silica sand products.

“We’re always striving to be number one in the world. We offer a premium product and direct to end user service and we have a premium supply chain so our customers are assured they’re buying the best.”

He says having that reputation and history has made it one of the more robust businesses in the world when challenges do arise.

He adds: “We’re not immune to challenges but because we’re always striving to deliver the best solution for our customer, when something happens like Brexit, your money is in safe hands.”

And on the subject of Brexit, he continues: “We’ve been exporting globally for several years and it hasn’t impacted us as much as it has others. Steel costs changed – it was coming in with a tariff but that was quickly reversed – rubber from China was slow to hit our shores and there were hiccups but nothing that we haven’t been able to manage.

“We made sure we were Brexit-ready and it’s been as we expected. We’ve a very robust supply chain.”

Planning is a priority at the business and securing future talent is also a part of its plans.

“We like to grow our talent: we have apprenticeship programmes, placements and we have a huge pool of technical talent coming through.

“The majority of the business is established but we like to bring in new talent and help them grow. We find that a lot of young people want to learn a skill set and spend a few years travelling and we can offer that too. We actively support global mobility across our regions and that makes our CDE culture one that is really unique and attractive to new talent.”

“CDE’s purpose is about creating a better world where the circular economy is a reality. That’s a purpose, which the kind of talent we want to recruit and retain buys into. It means that we can provide a platform for them to have a positive impact on the world and to get fulfilment from their job.”

CDE has a structured development programme for engineering. Over the past nine years, it has partnered with local colleges in Northern Ireland to nurture and upskill the next generation of engineering talent and innovative thinkers in the industry.

At its last count, CDE said almost onethird (30%) of its global Design Team is made up of graduates from the successful CDE Apprenticeship Programme.

A four-year programme run in collaboration with South West Regional College, the further and higher education provider based within the communities surrounding CDE’s headquarters, it consists of a split between time in education and time in employment at the company.

“This course allows them to learn the trade and they’re ready to hit the ground running when they enter full-time employment,” says Marc.

“The collaboration means we’re developing engineers who are absolute experts, they’re the best in what we do, it gives us the ability to send them around the world, effectively working independently and getting a wealth of experience very quickly.”

Prioritising people and sustainability will be CDE’s most pressing concern over the next few years as Marc concludes: “We will place importance on people and sustainability, and I can see that moving more and more forward. People are going to start prioritising the positive impact they have on the world and that’s the way we are moving, socially and in business. And it’s great for all of the world. It empowers everyone.”

The SOMEVAM project.