Dive Brief:

• Advanced Disposal Solutions has purchased Alabama Waste Disposal Solutions from EC Waste for a reported price of $15 million. The deal, which closed on Dec. 31, 2018, includes the Three Corners Regional Landfill, as well as commercial and residential roll-off collection assets.
• Landfill capacity data wasn't available from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) prior to publication, but past data indicates the site has a significant lifespan. EC Waste didn't respond to a request for comment, and Advanced declined to share specific details.
• “This acquisition is another example of Advanced Disposal executing our strategy that’s focused on integrated opportunities in secondary markets," Vice President of Marketing & Communications Mark Nighbor told Waste Dive.

Dive Insight:

These assets were previously owned by Waste Management until 2014, when a team led by Post Capital Partners and Randy Jensen (formerly of Republic Services) bought them, along with a larger portfolio in Puerto Rico. EC Waste continues to operate its Puerto Rico business. 

EC Waste's website describes Alabama Waste Disposal Solutions as servicing "over 13,000 residential customers and over 1,000 industrial and commercial customers in various counties." According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the company runs 11 trucks.

Three Corners — permitted to accept a range of non-hazardous solid wastes at its 467-acre site — is by far the larger prize. Without ADEM data, the most recent information on capacity comes from EPA's Landfill Methane Outreach Program. As of 2016, Three Corners was listed as having 35.57 million tons of designed capacity remaining. It also has a gas capture system in place.

According to information copied from EC Waste to the Advanced website, the landfill opened in 1998 and has state authorization to accept material from "23 counties of Alabama, 5 counties from Tennessee and 24 counties from Georgia." The area is described as being "sparsely populated" and "mostly surrounded by farmland and forests."

Advanced currently has five other landfills in Alabama and four in Georgia — but none tap into this particular region.

“The addition of the employees, the assets and the operations of Alabama Waste Disposal Solutions really enhances our capabilities in Alabama and it positions us to take advantage of what we think are some really attractive demographic and disposal dynamics that exist between Birmingham and Atlanta," said Nighbor. “We're excited to have that landfill as part of our network."

Nighbor declined to say whether Advanced will continue to source tonnage from the same range of counties, or whether this deal might lead to further regional tuck-in acquisitions.

Based on information shared during Advanced Disposal's third quarter earnings call, the company had spent $6.1 million on acquisitions to date, with another $6 million deal pending in October. At the time, CEO Richard Burke was cautiously optimistic that acquisitions would reach an annual target of around $30 million. Pending further information, which can be expected in the company's annual earnings call on Feb. 22, this appears to be its largest deal of 2018.