Liberty Industrial brings certainty to the controlled closure of complex assets. Multiple award-winning Australian company Liberty Industrial offers specialist closure and decommissioning services, utilising its nearly 20 years of experience successfully delivering technically complex projects in Australia and abroad.
As an industrial demolition specialist, Liberty Industrial provides long-term closure concept planning, demolition and remediation strategies for redundant assets, in line with leading regulatory standards.
After establishing a national footprint with offices in Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth, Liberty Industrial expanded its business and expertise to international clients in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway and, more recently, Chile.
This expertise combines front-end engineering, hazardous materials management, structural demolition, and site remediation to transform high-risk, multi-disciplinary projects into predictable, value-creating closure of complex assets.
The end-to-end decommissioning solutions are enhanced by specialist closure consulting and best practice implementation to manage risk, cost, and community impact, from a project’s early feasibility through to dismantling, decontamination, remediation, and validation.
This includes integrated remediation such as regulator-approved management of soil, groundwater, and structures contaminated with asbestos, lead, hydrocarbons, and PFAS, alongside a circular-economy approach that prioritises onsite treatment and reuse, reduces landfill and emissions, and protects habitats.
Clinton Dick, Founder and Director at Liberty Industrial, told Petroleum Australia the company’s approach prioritised early contractor involvement (ECI), an investigative process that simulates demolition sequences and optimises methods to ensure controlled closure.
He said: “We’ve been lucky enough to support most of our clients for several years with the ECI process, and then translating that into a decommissioning and demolition that’s safe, sustainable, and not labour-intensive but involves more mechanical demolition activities.”
The ECI approach is used to assess each project undertaken by Liberty Industrial, ensuring the safest and most environmentally friendly methodologies are executed.
This is realised through Liberty Industrial’s Demolition Risk Assessment Workshop (DRAW) process, which is designed to reduce the residual risks to acceptable levels.
This early risk mitigation-based approach demonstrates industry best practice, but also presents an opportunity to leverage past project experience across multiple industries.
Dick added: “We have to adopt and develop different methods as not all methods are the same for these kinds of projects – it’s an investigative process; it’s understanding what we can do and how we can do it in the safest way possible.
“When we know exactly what we’re dealing with – and we know what those risks are – we can apply the right methodology.”
The company also has the exclusive Australian proprietary licence to operate the Extreme Loading for Structures (ELS) software, developed by Applied Sciences International (ASI), based in the United States.
The ELS software has been utilised on large offshore oil and gas decommissioning projects, allowing Liberty Industrial’s team to simulate and model demolition methodologies, such as pre-weakening works involved with the separation of jacket and topside structures, before undertaking any work.
This gives Liberty Industrial the capability to accurately model breaking, separation and crack-propagation behaviour in structures – currently not replicated by any other software.
Dick explained: “When we’re looking at massive platforms in Norway – 50,000-tonne topsides – a lot of our activities involve controlled collapse, and ASI’s technology helps us refine our method.
“The technology enables us to demonstrate visual proof that our structural and engineering calculations by multiple engineers are correct.
“It’s only by providing safe planning and organisation that we’re able to complete complex projects safely – that’s our number one priority, as well as leveraging our expertise and experience of using big machines on complex projects across industries.”
Along with safety, circularity and sustainability are key aspects of Liberty Industrial’s approach to decommissioning.
Liberty Industrial’s waste planning and execution strategies provide the framework for a decommissioning process that targets a zero-waste outcome, ensuring materials are repurposed, reused and recycled to the greatest extent possible.
This is exemplified by Liberty Industrial’s collaboration with recycling specialist Hayes Metals, which has developed an innovative recycling process that successfully recycles FPSO flowlines and umbilicals used to transport hydrocarbons.
Dick said: “We see huge benefit in that technology, and wewanted to be part of it.
“We provide the platform as the principal contractor, and have the capacity to deal with operators and combine with Hayes to leverage their bespoke technology.”
With circular-economy principles at the core, the company aims to retain material value and preserve natural resources in the economy for as long as possible.
The company has previously investigated the impacts of mercury and naturally occurring radioactive materials on oil and gas infrastructure, which can inhibit the safe recycling of process steel via a cost-effective chemical decontamination process.
Liberty Industrial’s innovative techniques and specialised methods were most recently recognised by the World Demolition Awards in 2024, where it received the Explosive Demolition Project of the Year for its Northern Producer decommissioning. It was also awarded the Industrial Demolition Project of the Year for its work on the Argyle Diamond Mine Closure.
The Explosive Demolition award marked the first major recognition of Liberty Industrial’s work in the United Kingdom, highlighting its commitment to precision, safety, and innovation in the demolition sector.
The award for the company’s work on the Argyle mine – the first major mine closure in the Kimberley – was a landmark project that overcame significant challenges, including COVID-19 restrictions, volatile weather, and the remote location in Western Australia.
Through its advanced high-reach excavator fleet, specialist equipment, and refined recycling processes, Liberty Industrial delivered a successful and sustainable outcome at Argyle.
Utilising its extensive experience and learnings obtained through successful completion of closure projects across continents, Liberty Industrial is well-positioned to deliver the best decommissioning service for oil and gas businesses worldwide.