Cleanaway Waste Management acquires UCO collector, processor Australian Eco Oils

Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd. announced July 13 that it has entered into a binding agreement to acquire Australian Eco Oils for AUD$39 million (USD$26.9 million).

In fiscal-year 2024, the business is expected to generate annualized EBITDA of approximately AUD$6 million (USD$4.1 million) and EBIT of AUD$4 million (USD$2.8 million).

The acquisition is subject to customary conditions precedent and is expected to close in the first quarter of fiscal-year 2024.

Trading under the Scanline brand, AEO is one of Australia’s leading collectors and processors of used cooking oil (UCO).

The business currently processes around 11,500 metric tons per year (tpy) of UCO from 1,500 customers across 4,000 collection points and sells the processed product into the stockfeed and renewable fuel sectors.

The acquisition includes three licensed processing facilities in Riverstone, New South Wales; Rocklea, Queensland; and Laverton, Victoria; with a total capacity of 30,000 tpy, a fleet of 26 vehicles and around 30 employees.

“The AEO acquisition provides an attractive entry point into a new, adjacent market for Cleanaway at a time where high-quality, traceable UCO is becoming an increasingly important source of feedstock for the production of renewable fuels, including sustainable aviation fuels and renewable diesel,” said Mark Schubert, CEO and managing director of Cleanaway.

“The business will form part of our liquids and technical services strategic-business unit alongside our leading grease-trap business to expand our service offering to restaurants and other food-service customers with more circular and lower-carbon solutions,” Schubert continued. “As part of Blueprint 2030, we are exploring other opportunities to extract valuable fats and oils from our waste streams to supply into renewable fuels production. Subject to Australia adopting supportive regulations in line with many European and North American markets, we would look to buy back renewable fuels to accelerate our CO2-emissions reduction and be able to provide a circular solution to customers.”