Frontier Waste Solutions, a private-equity backed waste group based in Dallas, Texas, is continuing its expansion in the state of Texas, acquiring a landfill to supplement a growing roster of collection contracts.
The 380 McKinney C&D Landfill is the first landfill acquired by Frontier since it was started in 2017, founder and CEO John Gustafson said in an interview. It builds on the company’s private equity-fueled expansion throughout Texas, which includes an exclusive collection contract in the quickly growing city of McKinney.
“We love Texas for lots of reasons, including the growth,” Gustafson said. “Nowhere is growing faster than Collin County, and McKinney happens to be the county seat.”
The terms of Frontier’s deal to acquire the Type IV C&D landfill in McKinney were not disclosed. Gustafson said he’d been eyeing the landfill since before it was completed, and now plans to expand it by completing a C&D recycling operation already permitted for the site that could handle 15 to 20 tons per hour. Since its opening in 2019, the landfill has received about 275,000 tons of waste annually, he said.
Beyond the landfill, the waste company’s McKinney residential and commercial contract is scheduled to begin in October. The company is spending about $25 million to meet its obligations for the contract, which includes a 40-truck fleet with nearly 1,800 commercial containers and over 120,000 carts, Gustafson said. He estimated the value of the contract is as much as $150 million, and said it’s the largest municipal contract to be started in the state in recent years.
The company is also looking to build a trucking depot in the area as its operations continue to expand. McKinney is the company’s 14th municipal collection contract in North Texas and its 51st throughout the state. Outside of North Texas, the company also has operations outside Houston, San Antonio and Waco, and operates transfer stations in Somervell County and Dayton County.
Summer Street Capital Partners and Concentric Equity partners acquired a majority stake in Frontier in 2022. While some of Frontier’s 22 acquisitions to-date came prior to their investment, the company’s growth has since quickened. Gustafson said he leaned on his investors’ experience with the waste industry — including in Florida and New Jersey — as he completed the landfill transaction.
“It's great to have a partner who you are completely aligned with that has experience in similar activities in other parts of the country just to get a comfort level around not only what we're buying, but what we're going to be able to do with it,” he said.
Looking ahead, the company will continue to grow its existing footprint in Texas, which serves more than 350,000 customers. Gustafson said he’s focused on hiring more workers and managers to staff up for his new obligations.
“This deal, and the contract with the City of McKinney, are very much front and center,” Gustafson said. “It's an inflection point for our business, and it's really going to launch us.”
