Waste Management To Expand Composting Through Acquisition

Industry giant Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE: WM) announced Tuesday that it has acquired a majority stake in Garick LLC, a manufacturer, marketer and distributor of organic lawn and garden products. Waste Management said the acquisition will accelerate the expansion of its organics recycling services and development of composted organic products.

Garick’s operations will add over one million tons of processing capacity as well as commercial and consumer organic products to Waste Management’s organics recycling business, which could lead to the development of composting and bagging facilities at Waste Management facilities throughout North America, the company said.

Waste Management said the expansion of organic recycling services and products will be beneficial to the company’s residential, commercial and industrial customers seeking to convert their organic wastes into products such as compost, mulch and organic soil amendment.

The market for composting services is growing as consumers are increasingly demanding alternatives to conventional fertilizers for lawn and garden care, and municipalities and companies are seeking to increase the recycling of organic materials for beneficial use.

Organic compost is considered a part of the green retail market, which has been growing at 20% annually.

North America generates over 80 million tons of organic waste each year. In the United States, approximately a third of municipal solid waste is organic, including food, yard and wood waste. Approximately 65% of yard waste and 2.5% of food waste collected in the United States is currently diverted from disposal.

"We want to extract the highest value possible from the materials we manage. Recycling organics through composting and other technologies that may produce energy, transportation fuels or specialty chemicals enables us to generate more value from this specific material stream," said Tim Cesarek, managing director of Organic Growth at Waste Management. "Combining Waste Management’s leadership and expertise in the collection and management of organic feedstocks with Garick’s resources, knowledge and experience in yard and food waste composting and retail product sales will be key to developing new, high value-added end markets for organic materials and accelerating the growth of organics recycling across North America."

This investment complements Waste Management’s other investments in organic recycling. In January of this year, Waste Management invested in Harvest Power to expand its organics processing facilities across North America and to develop anaerobic digestion technology to accelerate the decomposition of organic materials that may produce renewable energy. In 2009, the company also invested in Terrabon to generate renewable transportation fuels from organic waste.

"The deal with Waste Management will allow Garick to expand its geographical footprint in both supply and service to our growing customer base," said Gary Trinetti, CEO for Garick. "The ability to leverage Waste Management’s existing infrastructure, coupled with their commitment to redirecting organic waste streams to higher and better uses, will help close the loop for our mutual customers in accomplishing their recycling and sustainability goals."

Waste Management’s sustainability goals  include: doubling its renewable energy production, tripling the amount of recyclables processed by 2020 and investing in new technologies for managing waste.

Garick’s six facilities make nationally branded products including Black Satin® Mulch, Organic Valley® soil, Designated Dryer® sports turf conditioner, HydRocks® soil enhancer, Rooflite® certified green roof media, Kids Karpet® recreational surfacing, Moo-Nure® organic compost and Nature’s Helper® soil conditioner.