Australia’s waste utility is evolving into a circular-infrastructure platform—moated assets and operational efficiency drive earnings today, while EfW and resource recovery define the rerating tomorrow.
Overview
Cleanaway is Australia’s leading waste management and industrial services group, operating a vertically integrated, utility-like model built around scarce, licensed “post-collection” infrastructure. It runs ~135 licensed facilities across 350+ locations with ~10,000 staff and ~6,400 vehicles, serving ~170,000 customers and benefiting from long-duration municipal contracts and diversified C&I demand. The core Solid Waste segment is the earnings engine, protected by high barriers to entry (landfill licensing scarcity, capital intensity). FY25 delivered net revenue of ~$3.30bn (+3.4%) and underlying EBIT of ~$411.8m (+14.6%), extending a three-year run of double-digit EBIT growth; underlying EBIT margin reached a record 12.5% on BOM-driven productivity and pricing discipline. 1H FY26 accelerated further (net revenue +13%, EBIT +16.9%), helped by an above-expectation contribution from newly acquired Contract Resources, prompting an FY26 EBIT guidance upgrade to $480–$500m. The longer-term value creation plan is Blueprint 2030: repositioning Cleanaway from “collector” to circular-economy and energy/resource recovery leader via EfW (MERC and Parkes), advanced recycling, and digital/operational transformation—shifting earnings toward higher-margin, asset-backed energy and recycled commodity production.