Waste Management Services
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 20,200 waste management companies in the US provide hazardous and nonhazardous waste collection, hauling, and treatment; operation of transfer stations and landfills; septic system pumping; and remediation including specialized cleanup of contaminated buildings, mine sites, soil, or ground water. About 66% of industry sales receipts come from services to businesses, organizations, and farms; 19% to residences; and 15% to government.
Worker Injury
Workers are exposed to a wide variety of risks including contact with contaminated and hazardous materials in trash and remediation sites, working with heavy machinery, and handling curbside trash bins near traffic.
Vertical Integration
Waste management companies are using vertical integration to control their waste streams, broaden services, cut costs, and improve profitability.
Industry size & Structure
The average waste management company operates out of a single location, employs 25 workers, and generates about $6-7 million annually.
- The waste management industry consists of about 20,200 firms that employ about 500,200 workers and generate about $137 billion annually.
- Average revenue per employee is about $246,000.
- The industry is concentrated at the top with the four largest firms controlling 29% of revenue. Otherwise, the industry is fragmented with many companies offering one or a few types of waste services.
- Major US companies include Waste Management, Republic Services, Clean Harbors, and Casella Waste Systems.
Industry Forecast
Waste Management Services Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Jan 21, 2025 - Despite Safety Efforts, Waste Management Hazards Persist
- While the waste management industry has made strides in improving safety - including additional training and technology investments in vehicles and facilities - dangers remain. According to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, waste and recycling collection was the fourth most deadly occupation in 2023 (after logging, fishing and hunting, and roofing). There were no work-related fatalities in landfills in 2022, but there were three in 2023; materials recovery facilities (MRFs) had nine fatalities in 2023, up from five in 2022. Waste-handling industry trade groups expressed concern about the new BLS fatalities data and stressed that more must be done to protect workers.
- In January, prices for curbside recyclable materials were mixed, according to RecyclingMarkets.net. The national average natural high-density polyethylene (HDPE) price increased 24% over December and grew 189% over January 2024. Prices for post-consumer PET bottles and jars rose 6.7% in January from a month earlier, and PET prices were up 43.3 % over January 2024. Prices for color HDPE were unchanged in January from the previous month but were down 71% compared to January 2024. Polypropylene prices were also unchanged in January compared to the prior month but were up 83.4% year-over-year. Prices for old corrugated containers (OCC) used to manufacture new containers remained steady in January compared to December but were down 16.1% from a year earlier. Aluminum can prices were unchanged in January from December but were up 42% compared to a year earlier. Sorted residential paper prices were unchanged in December compared to November but were up 42.4% year over year.
- In 2023, the US recycling rate for aluminum cans was 43%, down from an average of about 52% since 1990, according to a report released in December by the Aluminum Association and the Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI). In 2021, CMI and its members established a goal of hitting a 70% recycling rate by 2030. However, given the current rate, achieving the CMI’s 2030 goal is unlikely given current US recycling systems and policy. To help improve aluminum recycling, in 2025 CMI plans to lobby for extended producer responsibility (EPR) and deposit return legislation. Through EPR programs, firms that manufacture packaging products provide financial or operational support to help collect, recycle, and manage packaging. By August 2024 the only states with EPR laws were California, Colorado, Maine, Oregon, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Washington, according to Source Intelligence.
- According to Packaging Dive, a recent report by the National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) estimates the US PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottle collection rate in 2023 was 33%, up from 19% in 2022. The level of postconsumer recycled PET (rPET) used to make new bottles and jars in the US and Canada reached a record-high of 16.2% in 2023, up from 13.2% in 2022. NAPCO’s report also showed that prices for rPET rose in 2024 while virgin PET prices have trended downward. Rising recycling rates and rPET price broth suggests steady demand from consumer packaged goods manufacturers.
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