FEATURED TOPIC - ORGANICS
Dynamic growth SOILCO IS ENTERING A NEW ERA, WITH I SQUARED CAPITAL ACQUIRING A CONTROLLING STAKE IN THE BUSINESS. MANAGING DIRECTOR, CHARLIE EMERY, EXPLAINS WHAT IT MEANS FOR THE FUTURE OF THE COMPANY.
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ounded as a family-owned and operated business in New South Wales in 1974, organics processor SOILCO has undergone exciting change in the past six months. On 7 October 2021, international investors I Squared Capital acquired a controlling stake of SOILCO, with plans to invest up to $300 million towards growing the business. Charlie Emery, SOILCO Managing Director says the investment presents an exciting new era for organics recycling infrastructure within Australia. “I Squared Capital tend to focus on sustainable areas in the market including green energy, waste management and resource recovery sectors, as they see this as an attractive area of growth,” Charlie says. “SOILCO now has greater access to capital and an understanding of international technology trends. We have the opportunity to strengthen our established experience with similar international projects, providing a better understanding of how the waste industry is trending overseas.” Charlie says the investment comes at an ideal time for organics processing. The New South Wales Government’s Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy 2041 mandates the inclusion of food and garden organics collections for councils by 2030. As a result, recent demand for organics processing facilities has increased significantly. “With this increased capital we will be looking to purchase greenfield sites and
Charlie Emery, SOILCO Managing Director.
develop them as organics processing facilities. We will also be looking at our existing network of facilities to optimise their operation,” Charlie says. SOILCO designs, builds and operates organics recycling facilities with processing capabilities new to the Australian composting industry. The home-grown business is responsible for processing about 120,000 tonnes per annum of source separated organic waste. SOILCO’s facilities in Kembla Grange, Nowra and Tweed Heads are already aiding councils with the shift from GO to FOGO recovery throughout New South Wales. Plans are already well underway on another facility, in Sydney’s southwest.
EXCITING EXPANSION Charlie says SOILCO’s proposed Sydney southwest site will sit on 4.5-hectares and will be a fully enclosed organics recycling facility, combining proven in-vessel composting experience with anaerobic digestion technology to break down organic matter into biogas and produce soil heath products. “This facility will be known as a Clean Energy Compost Manufacturing Facility (or CECMF), given the different technology working side-byside,” Charlie says. “Our ambition is to create a net zero processing solution. The combination of source separated waste to energy and solar will make us a net zero energy user.”
www.wastemanagementreview.com.au / WMR / 45
