A transformative year in review | Daily News Byte

The team at SOILCO reflects on a big year of growth for the family business, what has been achieved and what is on the horizon.

SOILCO has come a long way since 1974, when the Emery family first bought a truck and started selling land from their dairy farm in the Shoalhaven region of New South Wales.

Driven by a desire to reduce reliance on natural resources and improve its products, the business has steadily climbed the organic ladder from soil extraction to developing state-of-the-art composting facilities that supply quality products for soil health.

The company now specializes in the design, construction and operation of advanced organics recycling facilities, but also offers end-to-end solutions, from food waste collection to product manufacturing and distribution.

Understanding potential

In December 2021, private equity firm I Squared Capital (ISK) became a majority shareholder in SOILCO – a move that opened up a world of opportunities for the company, according to Roslyn Florie-George, executive general manager of business development and sustainability.

“ISK’s knowledge of international sustainability infrastructure, carbon economy and renewable energy markets, together with a full appreciation and understanding of our business were important factors in the decision for SOILCO,” says Roslin.

“They see the growth potential for organics recycling in Australia.” They are very supportive of our management team and our growth strategy – which is why they chose us and SOILCO chose them. After a year of working together, it’s clear that we both made the right choice.”

Key to the partnership was ISK’s alignment with the family values ​​and ambitions on which SOILCO was built – and a willingness to help it maintain its identity as an Australian business run locally by experts in the field.

Most importantly, second-generation SOILCO family members Charlie and Mark Emery remain at the helm of the business, continuing as Managing Director and Sales and Service Manager. Both remain shareholders and have more than 40 years of combined experience in SOILCO.

Network growth

Over the past year, SOILCO has focused significant attention on strengthening and expanding its infrastructure network along Australia’s east coast.

“Since ISK came on board, we’ve secured a greenfield site in western Sydney,” Roslin says. “Our infrastructure team, led by Lance Jeffrey, Executive General Manager – Infrastructure Delivery, is working hard to advance the EIS for the facility, and we have selected our technology partners to help us make this happen.”

“We have also secured two sites in south-east Queensland: a 190-hectare regional site at Bromelton and a six-hectare site at Pinkenby near Brisbane Airport, in preparation for Queensland’s transition to FOGO.

This will add to SOILCO’s existing operational facilities in New South Wales, including Nowra and Kembla Grange in the state’s south-east and Tweed in the north-east.

The Tweed facility commenced operations in August 2021 and is the first operational part of the new South East Queensland and Northern Rivers network which will include Bromelton and Pinkenbu.

“Despite the challenges of extreme weather and the pandemic, the Tweed facility was delivered on time and is performing exceptionally well,” says Roslin. “

It is a small site in a 25,000 tonne licensed vessel currently processing FOGO from the Tweed and Ballina communities.

SOILCO is now preparing to commission additional on-site infrastructure to increase the range of end products produced at the facility. Roslin says the team worked with local farmers to understand their requirements and further develop SOILCO’s existing range of compost products.

“The Tweed facility works well as a standalone site, but the addition of Bromelton will give us more service options and further flexibility to tailor our products to meet the soil improvement needs of the region,” she says.

“As with our NSW network, we see value in having more facilities nearby in Queensland and the Northern Rivers to complement each other.”

Another key development in 2022 was the construction and commissioning of four ship composting tunnels at Kembla Grange, increasing the site’s processing capacity by 40,000 tonnes per annum. This will allow SOILCO to produce FOGO compost on site, saving both emissions and transportation costs.

Good people, good product

As critical as this infrastructure expansion is to SOILCO, it doesn’t mean much without the people to bring it all to life.

Roslin says ISK’s investment, combined with the vision and values ​​of the Emery family, has allowed SOILCO to expand its workforce with key people across the company – from laboratory staff, to quality control and safety specialists and senior management. “We’ve been able to diversify and strengthen the SOILCO team, and be very targeted about it,” she says. “Charlie has been working hard to find the right people for the roles – and we’re almost there, which is very exciting.

“This sets us up well for the next three years as we build our new facilities and expand our network.” And ISK has been very supportive of the process – they are very concerned with the appropriate resources and setting the job up for success.”

One such addition to SOILCO’s team is Duncan Le Goud, who joined in October as Executive Managing Director – Product Sales and Innovation. Duncan brings with him more than a decade of experience in the organics processing industry, including roles at major resource recovery companies as well as a directorship at the Australian Organics Recycling Association (AORA).

Duncan emphasizes that while expanding the reach of SOILCO’s business is vital, the quality of the company’s products will always be the primary focus.

“The word ‘quality’ is thrown around a lot, but it can mean a lot of different things,” Duncan says. fit for purpose.”

“Local raw materials and technological requirements differ for each location,” adds Roslin. “It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach.” We like to work closely with our customers to make sure the design of our operations is right for that area and the products are right for those markets.”

Duncan says that what is produced in a smaller container footprint facility, such as Tweed, and what is produced in a larger footprint composting facility, such as Novra, are very different, and it is important to know how each can be used and for what.

“You have to be very careful about the product you’re making,” says Duncan. “You have to know exactly what it is, its parameters, and then structure everything you do around that quality product.” That strategy goes all the way up the business – from us to the Emery family, to ISK – and it works really well.

“What are our core markets now may not be our core markets in the future, and we want to be prepared for that.” ISK understands our vision and is ready to listen and look for other opportunities as the market changes.”

This points to the fundamental trust and understanding at the core of SOILCO and ISK’s working relationship – one Roslin says has the growing SOILCO team excited about the future.

“We’ve come a long way in the past year,” she says. “We are now excited about the opportunity to develop critical infrastructure to divert more organics from landfill, regenerate more land and help transition to a net zero economy.”

For more information visit: www.soilco.com.au

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