Sircel creditors asked to wait as DOCA sought for e-waste recycler

Sircel Group creditors are being asked to adjourn second meetings for up to 45 business days as administrators and receivers continue efforts to salvage a sale or recapitalisation of the Australian e-waste recycler, despite the administrators’ formal recommendation that the companies be wound up if no adjournment is granted.

Richard Tucker and Ryan Rabbitt of KordaMentha were appointed administrators of Sircel Limited and Sircel Recycling on 31 October 2025, and of Sircel Refining and E3Sixty on 3 November 2025. Richard Albarran, Cameron Shaw, Brent Kijurina and Roberto Crispino of Hall Chadwick were appointed receivers over Sircel Limited, Sircel Recycling and Sircel Refining, although Crispino has since retired from the receivership appointments. The second meetings of creditors are scheduled for 5 June 2026.

Sircel was established to become a large-scale, end-to-end e-waste recycler and refiner, operating across six sites in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Its services included collection and transport of end-of-life electronics, refurbishment and resale, recycling through mechanical separation and commodity recovery, and refining recovered commodities. The group’s main revenue-generating entity was Sircel Recycling, while Sircel Refining was still operating in a limited capacity and developing technology to extract precious metals, including gold and silver, from e-waste.

The group expanded rapidly before the appointments, including through the May 2024 acquisition of assets from Scipher Technologies for approximately $3.9 million, adding processing capacity, specialist television recycling capabilities and about 40 employees. Sircel also pursued site and capability expansions at Villawood, Yatala and Parkes, and entered commercial contracts with telecommunications customers including Telstra, Optus/Singtel and NBN Co.

The administrators said the group’s collapse followed a combination of funding disruption, underdeveloped refining operations, persistent losses and board instability. In December 2023, Sircel entered into an e-gold offtake prepayment agreement with Quantum Metal and later assigned to Grith Gold, under which Sircel Refining agreed to sell refined gold and receive prepaid deposits, with Sircel Limited and Sircel Recycling acting as guarantors.

Directors pointed to default notices issued under the Grith e-gold offtake prepayment facility on 7 October 2025, which they said prevented the group from pursuing a $3 million line of credit, completing a research and development grant application valued at at least $5 million, and completing a $10 million capital raise led by Morgans. The administrators also noted funding delays, lack of working capital, ongoing losses since FY21 and refinancing difficulties tied to a complex capital structure.

The Grith dispute is central to the administration. The administrators reported that Grith lodged a proof of debt for US$424.2 million, or approximately AU$647.5 million, largely tied to undelivered refined gold production and an early termination amount under the agreement. KordaMentha’s preliminary view is that Grith has a secured claim of US$21.7 million, or AU$33.5 million, plus recoverable enforcement costs and insolvency process costs, a position Grith disputes.

The group’s financial position deteriorated sharply before the appointments. Consolidated revenue rose from $1.6 million in FY23 to $7.5 million in draft FY25 accounts, but the group remained deeply loss-making, posting EBITDA losses of $6.8 million in FY23, $12.3 million in FY24 and $12.2 million in FY25. Net losses totalled $10 million in FY23, $27.8 million in FY24, $25.3 million in FY25 and a further $5.4 million in Q1 FY26. Net liabilities widened to $36 million by Q1 FY26, while cash fell to approximately $454,746.

The receivers have continued trading the operating companies while running a sale process. The campaign commenced on 17 December 2025 and generated more than 76 expressions of interest, 26 confidentiality agreements, 24 information memoranda, six non-binding indicative offers and two binding offers. One binding offer contemplated a whole-of-group restructuring, while the other proposed a targeted asset acquisition. The receivers concluded that neither offer was viable in its current form and that neither would provide a meaningful return to the secured creditor, let alone unsecured creditors, but they are continuing discussions with both bidders.

KordaMentha also received a non-binding indicative offer on 2 April 2026 for a pooled DOCA covering all Sircel Group companies, but said the proposal had critical issues and was not sufficiently progressed or viable to put to creditors. A second party is now formulating another DOCA proposal, and the administrators said at least one party may submit a viable proposal if more time is allowed.

Preliminary investigations indicate the group became insolvent around 30 June 2025, although the date may have been earlier. The administrators identified potential unfair preference payments of approximately $1.1 million, potential uncommercial transactions in the vicinity of $8 million and a possible unreasonable director-related transaction of $16,000. They said no material insolvent trading claim is presently apparent, but investigations into potential breaches of directors’ duties remain ongoing.

The administrators said liquidation is not expected to provide any return to priority or unsecured creditors and could make it more difficult to preserve enterprise value. Although they are required to recommend winding up in the absence of an acceptable DOCA, they said the better course is for the chairperson to adjourn the meetings for up to 45 business days, allowing negotiations over a sale or recapitalisation to continue and giving creditors a more informed choice once a supplementary report is issued.

Read their report here.