Dive Brief:

• According to Republic Services, a study conducted by Arizona State University's L. William Seidman Research Institute found the company contributed to $32 million in economic benefits (gross state product) for Montana in 2015.
• The study also found that Republic helped contribute $24 million in total labor income, $10 million in direct purchases and $3.5 million in total annual tax revenue to the state economy.
• The company also created 500 direct and indirect jobs, resulting from 1.5 jobs being created for every full-time employee. The average salary for one of their employees was $54,000, which is above the state average.

Dive Insight:

These numbers from Montana may be a small portion of the $9.5 billion in annual economic effects that the company contributes on a national level, but it is seen as playing a large role in this small state. Republic reportedly has close to 200 employees servicing more than 100,000 customers across 89 municipalities in Montana. This involves a fleet of 130 collection trucks, three hauling companies, two material recovery facilities and one landfill. 

While Republic has faced some pushback over its pricing and desired profit margins around the Bozeman market within the past year, it has been viewed as a collaborative player in Missoula's diversion efforts. Montana's second largest city has set a goal of achieving "zero waste" by 2050 to help reduce the use of its landfill, operated by Republic, which has an estimated 15 years of capacity remaining. Last year, Republic worked with the city to expand curbside single-stream recycling service as part of these plans.

This is not the first state in which Republic's economic effects have been studied by the Seidman Research Institute. Other recent studies have focused on the company's role in Missouri and Nevada.