Distell is South Africa’s leading producer and marketer of spirits, fine wines, ciders and owns such iconic brands as Amarula Cream, Nederburg wine and Hunters cider. The company, which employees over 5,000 people worldwide, owns a chain of production sites across South Africa and a large number of wine farms in the southwest of the country.

Averda’s national contract with Distell, which will start on 1st Feb, encompasses all 14 major production sites. Averda will provide a fully integrated service with a focus on recycling - including organic waste - and specialist cleaning. The contract is built to allow for seasonal variations in the Distell’s waste management needs including around harvest time.

Included in Averda’s contract is the management of hazardous waste, which has become more important to businesses since the introduction of new waste legislation in August 2019. This is an area of speciality for Averda and one of the services underpinning growth in our South African operations.

Demonstrating the breadth of clients we service, the other major contract secured by the South African team is with Sasol, the number one global lubricant supplier and an integrated energy and chemical company based in South Africa.

Averda has been awarded a five-year contract as one of three companies to provide waste services to Sasol. This new contract builds on an 18-year relationship between the two companies during which time Averda has delivered highly specialised treatment and disposal services for various forms of waste produced by SASOL. These have included highly unstable and flammable waste liquids and sludges which need to be blended with ash before being safely disposed of.

South Africa Managing Director, Johan van der Berg, is proud of what his team have achieved.

“I’d like to pay tribute to the hard work of my colleagues here. These two contract wins top off a really significant year for Averda in South Africa, a year which has seen us acquire new businesses, open new treatment centres and develop our service offering in the hazardous waste sector. I am immensely proud of our team and look forward to delivering for our new customers and winning even more clients in 2020’.