Dive Brief:
- Republic Services has acquired two companies based in Grand Junction, Colorado, in a notable expansion of its presence in the western part of the state, according to a recent letter shared with customers.
- “We’re delighted to bring the experience and expertise of two trusted waste disposal companies, Monument Waste Services and Rocky Mountain Sanitation, together to join one team. We are now one local, combined team with the support from a national environmental services company,” read a Sept. 1 joint letter from Steve Derus, general manager for Republic Services of Denver, along with the owners of each company.
- According to the letter, the two companies will bring a combined 80 employees to a team of more than 500 already employed by Republic in the state.
Dive Insight:
While Republic has a sizable footprint in Colorado, these two transactions will allow it to expand in areas around Grand Junction and other parts of the Western Slope region.
Monument Waste Services, founded in 2016, was owned by Dan Kirkpatrick. The company grew quickly since that launch via the acquisitions of Mesa Disposal Services, Evergreen Waste Services, Grand Valley Waste Services, Commercial Refuse Service and the S-Road Facility Landfill.
The S-Road site, located about 20 miles outside of Grand Junction, sits on 120 acres and has seen a round of capital investments after Monument acquired it. According to The Daily Sentinel, the site is relatively new and has attracted a notable share of volumes that previously went to another landfill owned by Mesa County.
Rocky Mountain, founded in 1997 by Loren and Lisa Mullen, previously described itself as “the oldest locally owned waste removal company in Mesa County” and was known for ongoing growth over the years.
A 2019 report from the county indicated that Monument and Rocky Mountain were among multiple haulers — including WM — offering single-stream recycling collection in the area at the time, but some haulers on that list have since gone out of business. Commercial Refuse Service was later acquired by Monument and Curbside Recycling Indefinitely sold its operations to the City of Grand Junction earlier this year.
The Colorado market has experienced multiple rounds of consolidation in recent years and all four of the U.S. solid waste industry’s largest players are active participants. In one recent example, Republic acquired Fort Collins-based Gallegos Sanitation last year.
During an August earnings report, Republic executives said they anticipated spending $600 million on deals primarily focused in the solid waste and recycling space this year. That is in addition to the $2.2 billion spent on US Ecology in May.
