NZ e-waste leader Echo Tech scales up by bolting on complementary company

Tuesday, 3 March 2026

The core business of BMS-IT based in Avondale is buying and reselling surplus IT equipment.

New Zealand’s largest e-waste recycler Echo Tech received a large investment boost at the end of last year, and has made its first purchase with the proceeds - buying complementary firm, Avondale-based BMS-IT.

The purchase, for an undisclosed amount, will create a company that will re-purpose 150,000 or so bits of technology for resale, and process more than 4 million kilograms of electronic waste each year.

Echo was founded in 2017 as Computer Recycling, and purchased by now-chief executive Patrick Moynahan in 2018, before changing its name in 2024. It operates facilities in Auckland and Wellington and employs over 60 people. BMS, which was established in 2013, employs about 20 people in New Zealand with two offices in Australia.

Moynahan said the partnership would lead to a full-service IT and e-waste lifecycle solution, spanning recovery, re-marketing, refurbishment, and responsible recycling.

“We’re committed to building long-term capability for sustainable technology lifecycle services and e-waste processing in Aotearoa New Zealand, and this acquisition is a substantial step towards that ambition,” he said.

At the end of last year, Auckland’s Altered Capital bought a 75% stake in Echo Tech, citing its “scalable model, strong leadership and commitment to responsibly solving New Zealand's e-waste challenge.”

The company and Moynahan have been finalists for multiple local awards, including the 2025 NZ Leadership Awards, 2022 Sustainable Business Awards, and 2021 Sustainable Business Network Awards.

Altered’s stake in Echo will be whittled back after the purchase announced today. BMS company founder Stephen Westcott Jones become a shareholder in Echo of about 17%, interests associated with Echo chef executive Patrick Moynahan will own about 20% while Altered Capital’s holding gets reduced to almost 62%.

Altered partner Sam Rapson said the transaction strengthened the Echo’s footprint in New Zealand to deliver managed IT lifecycle services at a time customers had increasing demand for data protection, compliance and responsible reuse.

BMS and Echo Tech already have some customers in common. One of these is One New Zealand. BMS takes all the company’s enterprise and public sector electronic equipment and e-waste for processing and data wiping at its solar-powered factory in Auckland.

One New Zealand also partners with Echo, notably when it decommissions old tech such as replacing 3G with 4G and 5G, but also just generally, to take waste streams including old computer equipment, circuit boards, copper cables, lead batteries, and metals, which are processed for reusing, reselling, or recycling.