Smart Environmental has been in the Waste, Recycling, Resource Recovery and Parks industries for over 25 years. The company initially operated as Streetsmart Ltd, then rebranded to Smart Environmental Ltd (Smart); the company was 100% owned by Grahame Christian for the majority of these years.
The company continued to grow and go from strength to strength, focusing on strong relationships, collaboration, partnerships, working together and doing what we say we will do. With this growth and the change in contract terms and capital requirements, in 2016 the company went to the market to find a suitable partner to aid in the increasing capital requirements and to grow the business with. We had many interested parties; however, Grahame wanted to retain ownership in New Zealand.
In July 2017, Maui Capital invested into Smart alongside Smart Senior Management, through its Maui Capital Aqua Fund. Maui Capital’s modus operandi is to partner successful and like-minded management teams, to assist those teams to execute their growth strategies and build great local New Zealand businesses.
Maui and Smart’s shared vision is the creation of a uniquely kiwi industry player of scale in the waste sector. Currently, we have strong relationships with 18 Councils, across 25 contracts and approximately 400 staff plus owner drivers We think we are a good news story for New Zealand owned businesses. We hold contracts with approximately 30% of New Zealand’s Territorial Authorities.
Maui believes that business is about people. It is critical to Maui that the people with whom it partners are passionate about what they do; are aligned; value enduring relationships and partnerships, are of the highest integrity; and give back to the communities in which they operate. We are fortunate that Maui believes that Smart fits these criteria, and has selected Smart as a business it wishes to work with to build and grow. Many of the Smart management team also hold shares in the company.
Company Overview
We live in a World that is increasingly straining under the weight of rapid consumerism – driven with little thought to long term consequence. The public is beginning to awaken to the size of the issue and our vision is to provide the leadership needed to turn this sentiment into a better outcome for all.
We are a 100% New Zealand owned and our shareholders are aligned around creating a uniquely Kiwi enterprise that we can all be proud of. We are also building a business that people can invest in.
Health and Safety
The Health and Safety of staff, contractors and other stakeholders including the public are paramount to Smart in the fulfillment of every contract. Smart takes Health & Safety seriously. As well as the comprehensive systems we employ every day, Smart’s leadership, starting with its Board and Senior Management Team are committed to continuously improving Health and Safety systems and outcomes within the company and also the broader industry. Smart’s Managing Director is also an active member of the Business Leaders Health and Safety Forum.
We have recently introduced a new Health and Safety campaign “Work Smart, Home Safe” as an on-going ‘top of mind’ grass roots programme for all staff of the connection between working safely and going home safely each day.
A note from Todd:
Recently the world has woken up to the fact that our consumer society has been creating a massive problem for future generations. Nowhere is this more readily obvious than in how we have managed waste. Oceans full of plastic, overflowing landfills and proliferation of litter represents a model that has failed.
Smart exists because we believe that waste can be managed in a fundamentally better way and that it is not too late to get things back in order. Our company culture is underpinned by the notion that we can make a difference. We are totally on board with the New Zealand Government’s ambitious vision for waste minimisation and in particular for ensuring that as much of the waste stream as possible is recovered and recycled.
At the heart of our proposition is our commitment to providing outstanding customer experiences. We work with many local government organisations to design waste recovery systems that not only reduce the waste footprint but do so in a manner that is seamless for citizens to use and are as affordable as possible. Our commercial propositions draw off a similar theme of making it easy and economic.
We are a proudly New Zealand owned business with big ambitions. We know that these can only be achieved if we deliver outstanding outcomes and we would love the opportunity to deliver them with you or your organisation. Smart is friendly and approachable and if you have ideas or challenges in waste we’d welcome the opportunity to give you a good listening to!
Todd McLeay,
Chief Executive Officer