Bingo Industries Limited

On 28 February 2019, the ACCC announced it had accepted an undertaking (the Undertaking) from Bingo Industries Limited pursuant to s87B of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) in connection with Bingo’s proposal to acquire, through a subsidiary, 100% of the shares in Alexandria Landfill Pty Ltd (the holding company of a group of waste management companies operating under the name Dial-a-Dump Industries (DADI)) (the Proposed Acquisition).  

The ACCC concluded that, in the absence of the Undertaking, the Proposed Acquisition raises competition concerns that may have the effect, or would be likely to have the effect, of substantially lessening competition in the market for Building and Demolition (B&D) waste processing in the eastern suburbs/inner city of Sydney. 

The key competition concerns identified by the ACCC include:

• the Proposed Acquisition would remove DADI's Alexandria facility as the closest competitor to Bingo's Banksmeadow facility in the eastern suburbs/inner city of Sydney, where there are limited alternative B&D waste processors and the likelihood of new entry is low. As a result, Bingo would have the ability to increase rates for B&D waste processing, and/or impose exclusive processing arrangements or minimum volume conditions on its customers; and
• as a result of the reduction in competition between competing processors, the ACCC was also concerned about the impact on the waste collection market where rival collectors, who compete with Bingo for B&D waste collections contracts, will have fewer alternative processors to negotiate with for competitive processing rates. This would reduce the constraint on Bingo imposed by existing B&D waste collectors and raise barriers to entry. 

The objective of the Undertaking is to address the ACCC's competition concerns as set out above that would otherwise arise as a consequence of the Proposed Acquisition. 

The Undertaking aims to achieve this objective by placing obligations on Bingo to:

• ensure that the Divestiture Assets are divested to an ACCC Approved Purchaser (the Property to be divested either via a sale or lease, and the other assets via a sale); 
• in the event the Property is leased, appoint and maintain an Approved Independent Lease Manager to independently manage the Property and the Approved Lease Agreement;
• ensure the Approved Purchaser has all the necessary associated assets and rights, including an Approved Tipping Option Agreement where applicable, to compete effectively with Bingo in the market for processing of B&D waste in the eastern suburbs/inner city of Sydney; 
• maintain the economic viability, marketability, competitiveness and goodwill of the Divestiture Assets prior to divestiture; and
• provide for the effective oversight of Bingo's compliance with the Undertaking. 

RRO’s acquisition of Bingo

On 5 August 2021, Bingo announced that it had been acquired by Recycle and Resource Operations Pty Ltd (RRO) (the Completed Acquisition).

To support the Principal Undertaking (outlined above) the ACCC accepted an undertaking given by RRO (RRO Undertaking) pursuant to s87B of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) in connection with the Completed Acquisition.

The objective of the RRO Undertaking is to ensure that RRO enables and facilitates, and does not hinder or prevent Bingo’s compliance with the Principal Undertaking.