Recyclable Material Wholesalers NAICS 423930

Jul 9, 2025 - Waste Industry Seeks Outside Buy-In to Improve Safety

• In a recent webinar hosted by the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) and the National Stewardship Action Council, speakers said the industry needs more support from manufacturers, the media, and legislators to reduce waste stream risks, including fires and hazardous materials, according to Waste Dive. In recent years, products such as lithium-ion batteries and compressed gas cylinders have caused fires and injuries at material recovery facilities and in waste-hauling vehicles. Industry insiders suggest solutions include improved product designs and labeling, better end-of-life management, extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws, and more funding for community take-back programs and infrastructure. Several states have passed EPR laws that compel manufacturers to help fund efforts to safely recover hazardous materials, including paint, mercury thermostats, e-waste, and sharps.
• In June, prices for curbside recyclable materials continued to decline across most categories, according to RecyclingMarkets.net. The national average natural high-density polyethylene (HDPE) price dropped 21.6% from May but grew 105% over June 2024. Prices for post-consumer PET bottles and jars declined 10.1% from a month earlier and were down 8.3% year-over-year. Prices for color HDPE dipped 1.4% month-over-month and fell 77.6% from June 2024. Polypropylene prices fell 37.6% from May but were up 26% year-over-year. Prices for old corrugated containers (OCC) used to manufacture new containers dropped 7.7% from May and were down 33.3% from a year earlier. Aluminum can prices fell 8.9% from May but rose 10.3% compared to a year earlier. Sorted residential paper prices decreased 3.5% month-over-month and were down 33.3% year-over-year.

• North America’s top five publicly traded waste haulers and recycling firms spent $1.5 billion on acquisitions in the first quarter of 2025 as the waste management industry continued to consolidate, according to Waste Dive. Republic Services led Q1 M&A with spending of $826 million, primarily from purchasing industrial waste firm Shamrock Environmental. Waste Connections spent over $380 million in Q1, including purchasing New Jersey-based Atlantic Coast Recycling. GFL Environmental completed three deals valued at about $173 million that focused on tuck-in, post-collection operations in existing markets. Casella Waste Systems bought three firms in Q1 for a combined $103 million, including a Boston-based recycler. Waste Management completed one deal in Q1 valued at $7 million as it focused on integrating its 2024 acquisition of Stericycle. The five firms plan to continue their acquisitive strategies throughout 2025.
• The state of US infrastructure received a grade of C, according to a recent report card issued by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) that rates 18 infrastructure categories. The C rating was the highest since the ASCE began releasing the reports in 1998. US solid waste infrastructure received a C; hazardous waste infrastructure was graded C+. The ASCE found that solid and hazardous waste infrastructure has made significant progress in recent years, partly due to funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). To further improve its grade, the ASCE suggests that the solid waste sector develop more facilities for recycling, composting, reuse, and energy recovery, as well as increase bottle deposits and fees for plastic bags. Some key steps for raising the hazardous waste grade include maintaining existing funding levels for the Superfund and Brownfield programs, which received additional funding from the IIJA.