In 1974 the Emery family started selling soil from their family dairy property and purchased their first truck for product deliveries.

The Wogamia Sand Quarry was developed on the dairy farm, securing a long-term soil resource for the region.

Shoalhaven Sand Soil and Gravel was established as a corporate entity by Tony Emery. The business was managed by Tony and his wife Maria. Tony Emery is a fifth-generation resident of Wogamia, a 228-hectare property on the Shoalhaven River, and now the only remaining dairy upstream of Nowra.

Composting and waste recycling operations commenced to improve the quality of soil products and minimise the use of raw soil.

SOILCO Pty Ltd was formed as the corporate umbrella for all the operations of the business.  SOILCO was granted a Development Consent to extract, compost and manufacture soil products at Wogamia.

Kembla Grange Distribution Centre was opened to complement the manufacturing operation in Nowra and coincided with SOILCO extending its waste management services north to Whytes Gully for Wollongong City Council.

SOILCO was awarded the Shoalhaven City Council organics processing contract.

The NSW Environment Protection Authority issued SOILCO with an Environment Protection Licence for composting and related activities. This was the first facility to receive such a licence on the NSW South Coast.

SOILCO achieved product certification for composts and soil conditioners (AS4454) and landscape soils (AS4419).

SOILCO received Development Consent for the Kembla Grange Organics Recycling Facility and construction commenced in 2010.

SOILCO started collecting commercial food waste in purpose-built collection vehicles.

SOILCO was awarded the Wollongong City Council organics processing contract.

SOILCO was awarded the Shellharbour City Council organics processing contract.

Kembla Grange Organics Recycling Facility was upgraded to include aerated In-Vessel Composting (IVC) technology. ISO 9001 certification was attained.

SOILCO was awarded the Kiama Municipal Council organics processing contract.

Wogamia composting infrastructure improvements were completed. The existing turn piled (windrow) composting infrastructure was converted to a 30,000 tpa forced aeration static pile composting system for food and garden organics. This reduced the facility’s composting footprint from 20,000 to 5,000 square metres and introduced improved environmental and process controls.

SOILCO was awarded the contract to design, build and operate an organics recycling facility for Tweed Shire Council in Northern NSW.

SOILCO was awarded the City of Canterbury Bankstown organics processing contract.

Kembla Grange Compost Manufacturing Facility upgrades were commenced to construct a further four IVC tunnels at an adjacent site previously used for steel pipe manufacturing.

SOILCO successfully delivers an IVC facility for Tweed Shire Council.

SOILCO was awarded the Ballina Shire Council organics processing contract.

I Squared Capital becomes a majority shareholder in SOILCO, committing up to $300M in capital to expand SOILCO’s infrastructure network. Second generation family members, Charlie and Mark Emery, retain their leadership positions and shareholdings in the business.

SOILCO secures three greenfield sites for development in Badgerys Creek (Western Sydney), Pinkenba (Brisbane) and Bromelton (Scenic Rim).

SOILCO awarded the Cumberland City Council organics processing contract, Blue Mountains City Council organics haulage contract and starts receiving organics for processing from Kyogle Council.