HAZARDOUS waste business Augean has made good progress in the first half of the year to June 30, despite a slow start, the company has said.

Extreme weather conditions hampered its ability to move waste, the company, based at Walton, near Wetherby, said in a trading statement, but it was in line with management’s expectations after an improvement in activity from the landfill division and consolidation in its treatment division.

Sales in the landfill division increased from 87,220 tonnes in the second half of 2009, to 95,053 tonnes, predominantly linked to activity in the construction and land remediation markets.

And the pipeline is building in advance of the removal of tax exemptions on contaminated land coming to a close in March 2012, it said. Net debt was reduced at the end of the six month period to about £5 million, down from £6 million in the second half of 2009.

The company is appealing a decision by Northamptonshire's Development Control Committee for a Low Level Waste (LLW) facility, which would dispose of construction waste, mainly soils and rubble, with small amounts of radioactivity. The appeal, which is expected to last four weeks from October 26, has lengthened the process of the project, which the company now hopes to complete in the first half of 2011.

The business also appointed Waste Recycling Company’s chief executive Jim Meredith as non-executive director.

Augean chief executive Paul Blackler said: “After a slow start to 2010, the momentum in the first half has been encouraging. This coupled with our focus on cost discipline has added a level of confidence we can attribute to the future growth prospects of the business as our markets recover.”