Dive Brief:
- Republic Services recently acquired key assets from Integrated Waste Solutions Group, the buyer confirmed Wednesday. This includes Central Texas Refuse, a hauler serving the Austin area, and the 130 Environmental Park landfill near Lockhart, Texas.
- Central Texas Refuse serves several municipalities with garbage and recycling collection and owns a MRF. The landfill included in the deal opened in 2021 as part of a large industrial park, serving a market that had seen landfills close in recent years.
- The nation’s second-largest hauler is regaining a vertically integrated position in the market after selling off collection contracts and a transfer station in nearby Burnet County to WM in 2018. Republic declined to name the motivation behind the acquisition or financial terms of the deal.
Dive Insight:
IWSG, founded by former Advanced Disposal Services CEO and founder Charlie Appleby, acquired Central Texas Refuse the same time as the landfill, the latter of which came from Green Group Holdings. The 2020 deal was also announced at the same time as an investment from Nova Infrastructure that gave the investor an unspecified stake in IWSG. Chris Beall, founder of Nova, is also director of IWSG, according to the company’s website.
IWSG envisioned leveraging its Central Texas assets as part of a hub and spoke acquisition strategy. When it acquired CTR, the company already had a hauling contract with Lockhart, the Caldwell County seat near its permitted landfill.
IWSG and Nova Infrastructure did not respond to requests for comment.
Republic Services acknowledged the acquisitions in an emailed statement, saying, “The company has a strong commitment to sustainability and looks forward to serving customers throughout Austin and Central Texas.”
The 130 Environmental Park landfill in Caldwell County opened in 2021, about a year after IWSG acquired it. The Type 1 MSW landfill was the region’s first to open in years, and had an estimated 25-year lifespan at opening. It occupies about 500 acres of a 1,200-acre industrial park that IWSG said would also contain recycling, industrial and educational facilities. It accepts about 1,500 tons of waste per day and may accept nearly 3,000 tons per day at maximum, according to the facility’s permit. When IWSG announced its acquisition of the site from Green Group, it said the owner also had permits to recycle C&D materials.
As part of that 2020 transaction, Green Group Holdings received a stake in IWSG. The company received debt financing from Comerica Bank to fund the transaction.
Central Texas Refuse was one of the largest independent waste service providers in the region. Founded in 1981, today it offers services in “Austin, Round Rock, San Marcos, Pflugerville, Cedar Park, Lakeway and other surrounding areas,” according to its website. In May, the company acquired JJ’s Waste & Recycling of Texas, which served customers in the Austin area.
CTR also acquired Wilco Recycling, which owned a MRF in Taylor, Texas, in 2018. The hauler struck a deal with Balcones Recycling in 2021 in which the latter company agreed to operate CTR’s Wilco Recycling facility in Taylor, Texas.
Republic Services sold off it contracts in the Austin market to WM in 2018, a few years after its Sunset Farms Landfill in Austin was forced to shut down due to permitting challenges. At the time, the waste major was shifting the balance of its Texas operations to the Dallas area — it acquired collection contracts and assets in Carrollton and Lewisville in 2018 and finished building out a new MRF in nearby Plano in 2019.
Republic Services has been active in acquiring companies and assets this year. Executives have told investors the company is projected to spend $1 billion on M&A before the year-end.
