Bingo buys domestic rival to gain from China waste import ban

SYDNEY: Australian garbage handler Bingo Industries is buying smaller rival Dial A Dump Industries for A$577.5mil to build capacity to process kerbside trash, in a move aimed at cashing in on a Chinese ban on waste imports.

With the cash and shares deal, newly-listed Bingo will acquire a big dump in Sydney, lift its exposure to a booming building waste market in the city and benefit from ever rising quantities of refuse thanks to steady population growth.

It could also enable the company to grow its slice of a A$5bil domestic recycling market dominated by global giants Suez SA and Veolia Environnement SA and which has been upended by China’s ban.

China, the world’s biggest importer of plastic waste, stopped accepting shipments of rubbish, such as plastic and paper in March, sending shockwaves through the world’s waste handling supply chain.

It hit some 1.25 million tonnes of Australian waste, worth an estimated A$850mil, prompting Australia’s government to promise investment in incinerators and boost recycling to deal with a looming backlog.

“The Chinese ban basically means we need to invest more in waste infrastructure assets ... to deal with the waste locally,” Bingo chief executive Daniel Tartak told Reuters by phone.

“We believe we’re playing our role there and this is the first step for us to be able to do that,” he said, adding the company plans to expand the Sydney tip from handling mainly building waste to take household and commercial recycling as well. — Reuters