Republic Services has acquired Illinois-based Moring Disposal. The transaction closed on Dec. 16, according to a Republic representative.

The company is based in Forreston, a small village in northwest Illinois, with operations around the region. Moring Disposal was founded in 1977 by Larry Moring, according to the company’s website, and grew to offer service in parts of Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin.

Moring’s website states the company once serviced an estimated 30,000 homes and 4,000 businesses across multiple counties. Federal records from late 2021 show the company had 77 power units and 48 drivers at the time. It offers a range of residential and commercial collection services for waste and recycling. This includes numerous municipal contracts and roll-off services.

Over the years Moring also expanded to offer waste transfer services, including the construction and operation of a facility for Freeport, Illinois. The Freeport location previously hosted a residential recycling drop-off site, though according to a recent Facebook post paper and cardboard will no longer be accepted as of Dec. 16.

Republic had a limited presence in many of the more rural areas serviced by Moring, making this an expansion opportunity. Multiple local sources also said that Moring’s waste and recycling volumes previously went to destinations not owned by Republic. This transaction allows Republic to potentially internalize those volumes within the region.

Parts of the northern Illinois market have seen consolidation in recent years by other large companies such as Waste Connections. Today, all four of the industry’s top publicly traded haulers operate in the state, in addition to other growing competitors.

Republic reported spending $400 million on acquisitions through the end of the third quarter, excluding its $2.2 billion acquisition of US Ecology.