WCO - WasteCo appoints Stephen Towsen as Chief Operating Officer

Wednesday 3rd December 2025

WasteCo Group Limited (NZX: WCO ) today announced the appointment of Stephen Towsen as Chief Operating Officer, strengthening the company’s operational leadership as it continues rebuilding its national waste and industrial services platform.

The appointment follows the release of WasteCo’s half-year results last week, which reported revenue growth of 43% to $36 million and operating EBITDA of $3.8 million for the six months ended 30 September 2025. These results reflect early gains from the company’s operational reset, improved day-to-day discipline, and better performance across recently integrated businesses.

Towsen joins WasteCo with more than 15 years’ experience in waste and recycling operations across New Zealand and South Africa. His background includes senior roles at Green Gorilla, Waste Management New Zealand and EnviroWaste, with deep expertise in large-fleet management, logistics planning, procurement, workforce leadership and operational efficiency.

Interim Chief Executive and Chair Roger Gower said Towsen’s appointment marks an important step in lifting WasteCo’s operational performance.

“Stephen brings practical industry experience and the operational capability needed to continue strengthening the business,” Gower said. “His focus will be on the fundamentals: safe and reliable operations, efficient fleet management, consistent service delivery, and building a performance-driven culture across our sites. He has exactly the skills required to take our operational platform to the next level.”

Towsen said he was attracted to the opportunity to help improve and unify operations across the country.

“WasteCo has put together a genuine national footprint with huge potential. The priority now is making sure the operation runs well end-to-end, getting the basics right, keeping people safe, running the fleet efficiently, and supporting our customers,” he said. “What appealed to me is the chance to bring everything together, lift performance across the regions, and help build an operation that is consistent, reliable and scalable. The foundations are in place, now it’s about doing things well, every day.”

Gower said WasteCo is well positioned as economic conditions begin to improve.

“Lower interest rates and improving business confidence are expected to lift waste volumes, particularly as construction activity recovers. Our operational changes over the past year mean WasteCo is in a strong position to respond as market conditions strengthen into 2026.”

He said Towsen’s appointment gives the company the operational leadership needed for the next phase.

“With Stephen on board, we now have the capability required to lift operational performance across the business and ensure we can scale reliably and sustainably. The work underway to improve our diversion capability, strengthen regional operations and tighten core processes gives us confidence in the road ahead.”

ENDS

WasteCo appoints Stephen Towsen as COO

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