Building Australia’s Leading Independent Hazardous Waste Platform

In December 2020, AVC Enterprises partnered with founder Peter Dickey to acquire Cleanway Environmental Services, a founder-led hazardous waste transport business operating across New South Wales and Victoria.

The investment was sourced through AVC’s proprietary origination strategy. After identifying hazardous waste management as a highly attractive sector, AVC spent several years researching the industry, building relationships with operators and developing a value creation strategy before directly approaching Peter Dickey to establish a long-term partnership.

The transaction represented exactly the type of investment AVC seeks: a high-quality essential services business, acquired through a proprietary relationship, alongside a committed founder with significant retained ownership and a shared ambition to build something substantially larger.

At acquisition, the business generated approximately $10 million of annual revenue and operated primarily as a hazardous waste transport and consolidation company. AVC identified a clear opportunity to create value by expanding geographically, investing in treatment capability, broadening the service offering, and building a fully integrated hazardous waste platform capable of serving national clients.

Rather than pursuing financial engineering, AVC’s strategy focused on operational value creation.

Working alongside Peter Dickey and the management team, AVC helped establish a long-term strategic blueprint centered on five priorities:

• investing in hazardous waste treatment infrastructure;
• expanding geographically across Australia’s eastern seaboard;
• broadening the service offering into industrial services and liquid waste;
• strengthening governance, reporting and executive capability; and
• selectively acquiring complementary businesses where strategic and financial synergies existed.

Over the following years, Evoro completed several strategic acquisitions that expanded both capability and geographic reach. These included hazardous waste treatment, industrial services, Queensland operations and later South Australian expansion, transforming the business from a transport operator into a diversified environmental services platform.

Alongside acquisitions, AVC supported significant investment into treatment infrastructure, including the redevelopment of the Laverton hazardous waste treatment facility and construction of new treatment capability in Queensland. These investments were designed to vertically integrate the business, improve margins, strengthen customer relationships and create additional barriers to entry.

Operationally, the business was institutionalised through the appointment of experienced executives from leading industrial businesses and major waste operators, strengthened governance, improved reporting systems, enhanced safety capability and investment in scalable operational processes.

Today, Evoro operates as one of Australia’s largest independent hazardous waste management businesses, providing integrated collection, transport, treatment, industrial services and environmental solutions across multiple states.

Investment Outcomes

Since AVC’s investment:

• Revenue has increased from approximately $10 million to approximately $80 million annually.
• The business has expanded from a regional transport operator into an integrated hazardous waste platform spanning collections, treatment and industrial services.
• Operations now extend across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia.
• Major investments have been made into hazardous waste treatment infrastructure, creating significant long-term strategic assets and increasing control of the value chain.
• The business has broadened its customer offering while strengthening governance, leadership capability and operational systems.

The AVC Difference

Evoro demonstrates AVC’s investment philosophy in practice.

Rather than relying on leverage or short-term financial engineering, AVC partners with founders to build larger, more valuable businesses through operational improvement, disciplined capital allocation and strategic acquisitions.

The transformation of Evoro reflects AVC’s conviction that long-term value is created by investing alongside exceptional founders, strengthening businesses over time and building market-leading platforms in essential services industries.

Value Creation January 2021 to Present