Cleanaway

Cleanaway Waste Management Limited is one of Australia's largest integrated waste-management businesses. Its activities cover the collection, transportation, sorting, recycling, treatment and disposal of municipal, commercial, industrial, hazardous, healthcare and liquid waste. The company also operates or manages landfills, transfer stations, materials-recovery facilities and other resource-recovery infrastructure, giving it a role across much of the waste value chain rather than only in collection. The business originated within Brambles. Brambles entered Australian waste collection and disposal in 1970 through the purchase of the Purle Group's Australian operations, and began using the Cleanaway name in 1979. During the 1990s the brand expanded into Europe, acquiring operations in the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom. Those overseas businesses were subsequently divested: the German operation was sold in 2005 and Veolia acquired the UK operation in 2006. In June 2006 Brambles sold Cleanaway to KKR. KKR sold it in May 2007 to Transpacific Industries, an Australian waste-services company established in 1987. The combined business continued to use both the Transpacific Industries and Cleanaway identities for a period. In late 2015 it adopted the Cleanaway Waste Management name, ending the use of Transpacific as the principal corporate identity. Cleanaway expanded its Australian infrastructure through acquisitions and partnerships. In 2018 it acquired Tox Free Solutions, including Daniels Health, strengthening its healthcare, clinical-waste and specialist-services capabilities. In 2019 it acquired selected assets of SKM Recycling Group and later Statewide Recycling, adding materials-recovery and transfer infrastructure in Victoria and Tasmania. The SKM transaction included facilities in Victoria and Tasmania, including a plastics-sorting operation at Laverton North. In 2021 Cleanaway acquired SUEZ Australia's Sydney waste and recycling assets, including the Lucas Heights Resource Recovery Park and the Elizabeth Drive Landfill. The company participates in resource-recovery projects and joint ventures. Its EarthPower joint venture with Veolia uses anaerobic digestion to process organic food waste and produce biogas and electricity. Through the Tomra Cleanaway partnership, it operates collection and processing functions for container-deposit schemes in New South Wales and parts of Victoria. Cleanaway has also partnered with Asahi and Pact Group through Circular Plastics Australia (PET), a venture intended to process post-consumer PET bottles and packaging into recycled plastic pellets. Cleanaway's positioning is built around integrated waste services, operational scale and the transition from disposal toward recycling, energy recovery and circular-economy outcomes. Its customers include local governments, households, businesses, hospitals, manufacturers and industrial operators. The company remains an Australian-focused listed business, while its current operating footprint is distinct from the European operations associated with the brand in the 1990s and early 2000s. Workplace safety, environmental compliance and the management of waste fires and pollution incidents have been recurring areas of public and regulatory scrutiny. Cleanaway Waste Management is an Australian waste-services and resource-recovery company headquartered in Melbourne. It provides collection, transport, sorting, recycling, treatment and disposal services for households, businesses, industrial customers, health-care providers, governments and infrastructure projects. Its activities span municipal waste, commercial and industrial waste, construction and demolition material, hazardous and liquid waste, healthcare waste, secure document destruction, landfill operations and recovered-resource processing. The company is one of the most prominent waste-management operators in Australia. Its operating model combines customer-facing collection fleets with transfer stations, material-recovery facilities, recycling infrastructure, treatment plants and landfill assets. This gives Cleanaway exposure to both recurring collection contracts and the downstream processing or disposal of collected material. The business serves local councils as well as private-sector customers, with contracts that can cover kerbside recycling, general waste, organics, hard waste, street cleaning and related municipal services. Cleanaway's corporate history is closely associated with the development and consolidation of Australia's waste-services industry. The business operated for many years under the Transpacific Industries name before adopting the Cleanaway identity. The Cleanaway brand became particularly prominent after the company's acquisition of the Australian and New Zealand waste-management operations of Veolia in 2015. That transaction expanded the company's collection, treatment and recycling network and materially increased its presence across Australian states and territories. The company's services include the collection of household garbage and recyclable materials, commercial-bin services, industrial and hazardous-waste logistics, liquid-waste services, grease-trap and wastewater-related services, medical-waste handling, landfill disposal and resource recovery. It also operates or manages facilities that process paper, cardboard, metals, glass, plastics, organics and other recoverable materials, although the exact mix of facilities and services changes over time through contracts, acquisitions, divestments and regulatory requirements. Cleanaway is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange under the ticker CWY. Its strategic focus has increasingly included resource recovery, recycling capacity, operational efficiency, fleet and infrastructure investment, and the transition from a disposal-oriented model toward a circular-economy model. The company remains primarily Australia-focused rather than a global consumer brand. Its public profile is therefore strongest among municipal authorities, commercial customers, industrial clients, investors and sustainability stakeholders. Cleanaway Waste Management Limited is one of Australia's largest integrated waste-management businesses, headquartered in Melbourne. Its activities cover the collection, transportation, sorting, recycling, treatment and disposal of municipal, commercial, industrial, construction and demolition, hazardous, healthcare, liquid and secure-document waste. The company also operates or manages landfills, transfer stations, materials-recovery facilities and other resource-recovery infrastructure, giving it a role across much of the waste value chain rather than only in collection. Its operating model combines customer-facing collection fleets with transfer stations, material-recovery facilities, recycling infrastructure, treatment plants and landfill assets, giving it exposure to both recurring collection contracts and the downstream processing or disposal of collected material. It serves local councils, households, businesses, industrial customers, health-care providers, governments and infrastructure projects, with contracts that can cover kerbside recycling, general waste, organics, hard waste, street cleaning and related municipal services. Cleanaway expanded its Australian infrastructure through acquisitions and partnerships. In 2015 it completed the acquisition of Veolia's Australian and New Zealand waste-management operations, materially expanding its geographic reach, customer base, workforce, collection fleet and treatment infrastructure. In 2018 it acquired Tox Free Solutions, including Daniels Health, strengthening its healthcare, clinical-waste and specialist-services capabilities. In 2019 it acquired selected assets of SKM Recycling Group and later Statewide Recycling, adding materials-recovery and transfer infrastructure in Victoria and Tasmania. The SKM transaction followed SKM's financial distress and the disruption of recycling collections after regulatory restrictions associated with fires in recycling stockpiles; the acquired facilities included a plastics-sorting operation at Laverton North, which Cleanaway restored and reopened. In 2021 Cleanaway acquired SUEZ Australia's Sydney waste and recycling assets, including Lucas Heights Resource Recovery Park and Elizabeth Drive Landfill.

Cleanaway traces its origins to Brambles' entry into Australian waste collection and disposal. Brambles purchased the Australian waste collection and disposal operations of the Purle Group in 1970 and began trading under the Cleanaway name in 1979. The business developed into a substantial waste-services operation serving municipalities, commercial customers and industrial sites. During the 1990s Cleanaway expanded beyond Australia into Europe, acquiring operations in the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom. The UK business became particularly substantial, reportedly employing more than 8,000 people by 2003. Brambles later reversed the international expansion: the German operation was sold in 2005, and Veolia acquired Cleanaway's UK operation in 2006. In June 2006 Brambles sold Cleanaway to KKR. KKR subsequently sold the business to Transpacific Industries in May 2007. Transpacific, founded in 1987, had grown through organic expansion and acquisitions. For roughly a decade the combined organization continued to use both the Transpacific Industries and Cleanaway names. In late 2015 the corporation rebranded as Cleanaway Waste Management, making Cleanaway the principal group identity. The company then pursued expansion in specialist and infrastructure-heavy segments. In 2018 it acquired Tox Free Solutions, bringing Daniels Health into the group and increasing exposure to healthcare and clinical waste. In 2019 Cleanaway purchased selected SKM Recycling assets, including materials-recovery facilities and transfer stations in Victoria and Tasmania. The transaction followed SKM's financial distress and the disruption of recycling collections after regulatory restrictions associated with fires in recycling stockpiles. Cleanaway restored and reopened the acquired sites, including a plastics-sorting facility at Laverton North. Later in 2019 it acquired Statewide Recycling, strengthening its regional Victorian network. In 2021 Cleanaway expanded in Sydney through the acquisition of SUEZ Australia's waste and recycling assets. The deal included Lucas Heights Resource Recovery Park, described as one of New South Wales' largest waste-management facilities, and Elizabeth Drive Landfill, which accepts non-putrescible waste. The transaction increased Cleanaway's presence in collection, transfer, recovery and disposal infrastructure in the Sydney market. Partnerships have supplemented acquisitions. Cleanaway and Veolia formed a joint venture in 2007 to acquire EarthPower, an organic-waste facility using anaerobic digestion to convert food waste into biogas and electricity. Cleanaway also joined Tomra in operating parts of Australia's container-deposit systems. Tomra supplies reverse-vending technology, while Cleanaway collects and processes containers from machines and collection points. In 2020 Cleanaway, Asahi Breweries and Pact Group announced Circular Plastics Australia (PET), a venture intended to process up to 28,000 tonnes of plastic bottles and packaging into recycled plastic feedstock. The company's history has also included significant safety and environmental controversies. A 2000 fatal accident at the former UK toxic-waste incinerator resulted in a conviction and fines. In Australia, a 2014 sewage-tanker crash on the South Eastern Freeway killed two people and led to a large-scale truck inspection and later health-and-safety proceedings. In 2017 Cleanaway received a substantial fine after a worker was seriously burned at a chemical-waste facility. In 2020 chemical discharges from the Queanbeyan site led to NSW EPA charges and broad inspections. More recent scrutiny has focused on fatal incidents at Australian worksites and their implications for corporate safety governance. Cleanaway Waste Management developed within Australia's large-scale waste-collection and environmental-services industry. Before the Cleanaway name became dominant, the business was associated with Transpacific Industries, a company that expanded through organic growth and acquisitions in waste collection, transport, treatment and disposal. The sector's structure encouraged consolidation because operators could achieve scale through fleet utilisation, transfer stations, landfill access, specialist treatment assets and long-term municipal or commercial contracts. The company later adopted the Cleanaway identity as its principal operating brand. The rebranding helped present the business as an integrated waste and resource-recovery provider rather than solely a collection or disposal company. Its activities came to cover household and council services, commercial and industrial collection, liquid and hazardous waste, healthcare waste, recycling, landfill and related environmental services. A major turning point came in 2015, when the company completed the acquisition of Veolia's waste-management operations in Australia and New Zealand. The transaction expanded Cleanaway's geographic reach, customer base, workforce, collection fleet and treatment infrastructure. It also strengthened the company's position in municipal and commercial waste services and contributed to the consolidation of Australia's waste-management market. The business subsequently operated under the Cleanaway brand while remaining listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Cleanaway's subsequent strategy has combined operating-scale benefits with investment in resource recovery. Traditional waste collection and disposal remain important, but the company has also developed and operated facilities for sorting and processing recyclable materials, managing organics, treating liquid and hazardous waste, and recovering value from material that would otherwise be sent to landfill. Its infrastructure and service mix are affected by council procurement cycles, environmental approvals, commodity prices for recovered materials, landfill availability, fuel and labour costs, and changes in recycling policy. The company serves a broad set of customers. Council contracts may involve kerbside garbage, recycling and organics collection, hard waste, street sweeping and transfer-station operations. Private customers include retailers, manufacturers, offices, construction companies, hospitals, laboratories, utilities and resource-sector operators. Specialist services include clinical and quarantine-related waste handling, secure destruction, liquid-waste transport and treatment, and industrial cleaning or recovery activities. In the 2020s, Cleanaway continued to position itself around resource recovery, circular-economy infrastructure, emissions reduction and operational productivity. Its business remains Australia-focused, with a large physical asset base and a public-company reporting structure. The Cleanaway brand is primarily a business-to-business, government and infrastructure brand rather than a consumer packaged-goods brand, although many households encounter it through council-branded collection services and collection vehicles.

• 2023

  Brendan Gill becomes managing director and CEO

  [4]Cleanaway leadershipcleanaway.com.au

  Brendan Gill succeeded Mark Schubert as managing director and chief executive officer.

• 2021

  SUEZ Sydney assets acquired

  [1]Cleanawayen.wikipedia.org

  Cleanaway acquired SUEZ Australia's Sydney waste and recycling assets, including Lucas Heights Resource Recovery Park and Elizabeth Drive Landfill.

• 2021

  Greenius learning platform launched

  [1]Cleanawayen.wikipedia.org

  Cleanaway launched Greenius, a free online resource intended to help residents learn about waste and recycling.

• 2019

  SKM Recycling asset acquisition

  [1]Cleanawayen.wikipedia.org

  Cleanaway acquired selected SKM recycling facilities in Victoria and Tasmania and later restored the acquired sites.

• 2018

  Tox Free Solutions acquisition

  [1]Cleanawayen.wikipedia.org

  Cleanaway acquired Tox Free Solutions and its Daniels Health subsidiary.

• 2016

  Cleanaway becomes the principal corporate identity

  [3]Cleanaway company historycleanaway.com.au

  Following the company's corporate and operating-brand transition from Transpacific Industries, Cleanaway became the principal name used across the business.

• 2015

  Rebrand to Cleanaway Waste Management

  [1]Cleanawayen.wikipedia.org

  The company dropped the Transpacific name and adopted Cleanaway Waste Management as its principal identity.

• 2015

  Veolia waste-business acquisition completed

  [3]Cleanaway company historycleanaway.com.au

  The company completed the acquisition of Veolia's Australian and New Zealand waste-management operations, materially expanding its national operating network and customer base.

• 2007

  Transpacific Industries acquisition

  [1]Cleanawayen.wikipedia.org

  KKR sold Cleanaway to Transpacific Industries, which operated the combined business under both corporate and brand identities for several years.

• 2006

  Ownership passes from Brambles to KKR

  [1]Cleanawayen.wikipedia.org

  Brambles sold Cleanaway to KKR; the UK operation was later acquired by Veolia in the same year.

• 1990

  European expansion

  [1]Cleanawayen.wikipedia.org

  During the 1990s Cleanaway acquired waste businesses in the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom.

• 1979

  Cleanaway name begins trading

  [1]Cleanawayen.wikipedia.org

  Brambles began trading its waste-management business under the Cleanaway name.

• 1970

  Brambles enters waste services

  [1]Cleanawayen.wikipedia.org

  Brambles entered Australian waste collection and disposal by purchasing the Australian operations of the Purle Group.

An Australian integrated waste-services leader emphasizing operational scale, recycling, resource recovery and circular-economy infrastructure. A large, vertically integrated Australian waste-management and resource-recovery operator serving councils, businesses, industry and infrastructure customers.

• Waste collection

  Municipal waste collection

  Cleanaway collects household and municipal waste for local-government and community customers. Services can include general waste, recycling and other kerbside streams, hard-waste programs, street cleaning and transfer-station operations, with material transported to transfer, recovery or disposal facilities. The offering connects collection fleets with the company's broader network of sorting and treatment infrastructure.

• Business waste management

  Commercial and industrial waste services

  The commercial and industrial portfolio serves businesses, manufacturers, construction-related customers and industrial sites. It includes scheduled and on-demand collection, front-lift, rear-lift and skip bins, compactors, bulk services, transport, treatment, recycling, disposal and reporting support. Solutions are configured around the type, volume and regulatory requirements of the customer's waste streams. Scheduled and on-demand collection for offices, retail sites, factories, logistics facilities, construction sites and other commercial customers. Offerings can include front-lift, rear-lift and skip bins, compactors, bulk services, transport, disposal and reporting support.

• Specialist waste management · 2018

  Healthcare and clinical waste services

  Through its specialist operations, including the Daniels Health business acquired with Tox Free Solutions, Cleanaway handles healthcare and clinical waste. Services include collection, secure transport, treatment and disposal for hospitals, medical practices and other healthcare environments where traceability and compliance are important.

• Recycling

  Recycling and materials recovery

  Cleanaway operates materials-recovery infrastructure that sorts collected recyclables into marketable material streams such as paper, cardboard, metals, glass, plastics, organics and construction materials. Facilities acquired from SKM included plastics-sorting capability at Laverton North, where plastics can be separated into polymer grades for sale or further pelletising. The business also processes containers collected through deposit schemes.

• Disposal and recovery infrastructure

  Landfill and resource recovery

  The company manages landfills, transfer stations and other static facilities for residual waste. Some operations recover materials or generate energy from waste. Cleanaway has also proposed an energy-from-waste facility in Western Sydney for residual kerbside waste, although the proposal's final status is not established by the supplied material.

• Circular economy services · 2017

  Container-deposit operations

  The Tomra Cleanaway partnership operates collection and processing functions for container-deposit schemes. Tomra provides reverse-vending equipment, while Cleanaway collects and processes containers from reverse-vending machines and collection points in participating Australian markets.

• Waste collection

  Municipal waste services

  Services delivered for councils and local communities, including kerbside garbage, recycling and organics collection, hard-waste programs, street cleaning, transfer-station operations and related municipal waste activities. Contracts may combine collection, transport, sorting and disposal or recovery through Cleanaway's broader network.

• Recycling

  Recycling and resource recovery

  Sorting, processing and recovery of materials such as paper, cardboard, metals, glass, plastics, organics and construction materials. These operations are intended to divert suitable material from landfill and return recovered commodities or feedstocks to productive use.

• Specialist waste treatment

  Hazardous, liquid and clinical waste services

  Specialist collection, transport, treatment and disposal for liquid waste, hazardous materials, healthcare and clinical waste, and other regulated waste streams. These services require dedicated equipment, trained personnel, documented chain-of-custody processes and compliance with environmental and safety rules.

• Waste disposal

  Landfill and disposal

  Landfill, transfer and disposal infrastructure for residual waste that cannot be economically or technically recovered. Disposal is integrated with collection and treatment operations, while the company also promotes diversion, recovery and improved material outcomes where feasible.

• 2025

  Workplace safety scrutiny and shareholder first strike

  The company faced increased scrutiny after a series of fatal incidents at Australian worksites. Shareholders delivered a first strike at the 2025 annual general meeting, creating the possibility of a board-spill vote if another strike occurs at the next meeting.

  Source

• 2021

  Queanbeyan chemical discharges

  Chemical discharges from a Cleanaway facility entered the Molonglo River in 2020. The NSW EPA later charged the company over alleged pollution offences and criticized operational management after inspections found recordkeeping and storage concerns at several sites.

  Source

• 2020

  Cleanaway fined for storing waste without a licence

  Cleanaway Pty Ltd was fined $15,000 by the NSW Environment Protection Authority for allegedly storing waste without an environmental protection licence. According to the EPA, investigations found that waste was stored without proper controls near a stormwater drain, which increased the risk of pollution and environmental harm.

  Source

• 2017

  Chemical facility fire

  A worker was seriously burned in a fire at a chemical-waste processing facility. Cleanaway was fined $650,000 after a court criticized the way a trial involving a new chemical was communicated to workers.

  Source

• 2014

  South Eastern Freeway tanker crash

  A Cleanaway sewage tanker lost control on the South Eastern Freeway, colliding with vehicles and killing two people. The incident prompted inspections of approximately 2,800 trucks and later criminal health-and-safety proceedings.

  Source

• 2004

  Employment discrimination case in the UK

  Cleanaway's UK subsidiary was ordered to compensate a manager who left after alleged persistent harassment related to his sexual orientation. The case was reported as an early application of UK sexual-orientation employment protections.

  Source

• 2000

  Fatal accident at Ellesmere Port facility

  An employee was killed and another seriously injured when concrete fell during work at Cleanaway UK's toxic-waste incinerator. The subsidiary was convicted of health-and-safety failings and fined £200,000 plus costs.

  Source

Read more

• 2021Greenius

  Australia

  Cleanaway launched Greenius as a free online learning resource for residents covering waste and recycling topics.

  Outcome. Public education resource launched.

  Source

• 2023

  Leadership transition under Brendan GillStrategy

  Background

  Cleanaway changed its senior operating leadership as the company continued to focus on collection scale, resource recovery, infrastructure and operational performance.

  Action taken

  Brendan Gill took over as managing director and chief executive officer from Mark Schubert.

  Aftermath

  The change established a new executive leadership phase for the listed company.

  Source

• 2021

  Acquisition of SUEZ Sydney operationsM&A

  Background

  SUEZ and Veolia had reached an agreement associated with Veolia's proposed acquisition of SUEZ.

  Action taken

  Cleanaway agreed to purchase SUEZ Australia's Sydney waste and recycling business.

  Aftermath

  Cleanaway added major Sydney assets, including Lucas Heights Resource Recovery Park and Elizabeth Drive Landfill.

  Source

• 2020

  Circular Plastics Australia PET ventureStrategy

  Background

  The partners sought to increase domestic recovery and reprocessing of plastic packaging.

  Action taken

  Cleanaway, Asahi Breweries and Pact Group announced a joint venture to develop a PET plastic-pelletising facility.

  Aftermath

  The planned facility was designed to process up to 28,000 tonnes of bottles and other plastic packaging.

  Source

• 2015

  Corporate rebranding to CleanawayStrategy

  Background

  The company had operated with the Transpacific Industries and Cleanaway identities following the 2007 acquisition.

  Action taken

  The company dropped the Transpacific name and rebranded as Cleanaway Waste Management.

  Aftermath

  Cleanaway became the principal corporate and customer-facing identity.

  Source

• 2015

  Acquire Veolia's Australian and New Zealand waste operationsM&A

  Background

  The acquisition was undertaken to expand the company's geographic coverage, customer base and waste-treatment and collection infrastructure.

  Action taken

  The company completed the purchase of Veolia's waste-management operations in Australia and New Zealand and integrated the acquired activities into its operating network.

  Aftermath

  The transaction strengthened Cleanaway's position as a major Australian waste-services operator and supported the subsequent use of the Cleanaway identity across the enlarged business.

  Source

• 2007

  Sale to Transpacific IndustriesM&A

  Background

  KKR owned Cleanaway after its purchase from Brambles in 2006.

  Action taken

  KKR sold Cleanaway to Transpacific Industries in May 2007.

  Aftermath

  The combined organization continued to trade under both Transpacific Industries and Cleanaway identities before later adopting Cleanaway as the group name.

  Source

• Unconfirmed

  Circular Plastics Australia PET joint venture formed[8]Circular Plastics Australia PET合资企业成立miragenews.com

  Cleanaway Waste Management, Pact Group and Asahi Beverages combined their expertise to form Circular Plastics Australia PET, a joint venture to build a PET recycling facility in regional Australia.

• Unconfirmed

  Cleanaway fined for storing waste without a licence[7]Cleanaway fined for storing waste without a licencemiragenews.com

  The NSW EPA fined Cleanaway Pty Ltd $15,000 for allegedly storing waste without an environmental protection licence. The EPA said investigations found waste was stored without proper controls near a stormwater drain, increasing the risk of pollution and environmental harm.

1. 1Cleanawayen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Cleanaway corporate websitecleanaway.com.au
3. 3Cleanaway company historycleanaway.com.au
4. 4Cleanaway leadershipcleanaway.com.au
5. 5Cleanaway investor centrecleanaway.com.au
6. 6https://www.cleanaway.com.au/cleanaway.com.au
7. 7Cleanaway fined for storing waste without a licencemiragenews.com
8. 8Circular Plastics Australia PET合资企业成立miragenews.com