Envirowaste cuts deal with regulator over attempted waste oil collection collusion

Tuesday 29th September 2015

Enviro Waste Services has cut a deal with the Commerce Commission over claims the waste management firm tried to collude with a competitor in Nelson in collecting waste oil.

The antitrust regulator filed proceedings in the High Court against the Auckland based company and one of its employees, claiming EnviroWaste unit Ben's Oil tried to form an agreement with a rival in September 2012 reducing competition in the waste oil collection market, the commission said in a statement.

EnviroWaste, the regulator and the employee agreed to settle the proceeding, and a still to be scheduled penalty hearing will be held in the High Court in Auckland, it said.

More than 700,000 litres of waste oil, the leftover lubricant in petrol and diesel engines that is typically refined into light fuel oil, is collected annually in the upper South Island.

Billionaire Li Ka-shing's Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings bought EnviroWaste in January 2013 for $501 million. The group generated a profit of $5.9 million on sales of $201.9 million in calendar 2014, compared to profit of $6.1 million on $130.4 million of revenue in 2013.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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