Ward Petherbridge

Petherbridge Family purchased the Lyndhurst Sand Quarry and Solid Inert Waste Tip, trading as Commercial Sands / Commercial Tippers Pty Ltd.

Ward joined the business around the time the tip was closing as it had reached capacity. The transition to recycling began. 

All operations were outdoors with shanty shelters made from waste materials as the only weather cover. An old 1970’s JD 400 Backhoe was converted to act as a forklift. This was the only piece of lifting equipment available for the first 6 years of operation

Ward spilt off from the family business and started Waste Converters Pty Ltd, later changing name to S.M.A.R.T Recycling Pty Ltd

Shed 1 was built (30 x 15m) First undercover area with concrete and 3-phase power. Also first flush toilets!

Shed 2 was built (24 x 12m) First pallet dismantling equipment purchased from USA to harvest recycled timber from waste pallets. Prior to this all pallets were manually dismantled and denailed using hand tools.

Pallet Recycling and Pallet Manufacturing began to ramp up, eventually resulting in the creation of a separate division, S.M.A.R.T Pallets Pty Ltd.

Shed 3 was built, incorporating 360m2 of office space and 1500m2 of factory space.
Including awning total size = 56 x 45m.

100 KW Solar system installed. This supplies sufficient power to run the entire pallet division.

New Entrance from Portlink Drive, Dandenong South. Epping Yard established
. Brooklyn Yard established.

2020 – Construction of Bioenergy Heat Treatment and Timber Drying Kilns

(Covid19 Year) We survived and kept 95% of our workforce. Planning for a new division (SML) began.

Smart Labour Hire began its operations