| Type | Public NYSE: RSG S&P 500 Component |
|---|---|
| Industry | Waste management |
| Headquarters | Phoenix, AZ |
| Area served | USA Puerto Rico |
| Key people |
James E. O'Connor Donald W. Slager Tod Holmes, EVP and CFO Ed Lang, SVP and Treasurer Will Flower, EVP - Communications |
| Revenue | US$ 3.176 billion (2007) |
| Operating income | US$ 536 million (2007) |
| Net income | US$ 290.20 million (2007) |
| Total assets | US$ 4.467 billion (2007) |
| Total equity | US$ 1.303 billion (2007) |
| Employees | 35,000 (2008) |
| Website | RepublicServices.com |
Republic Services, Inc (NYSE: RSG) is a waste management company. Once the third largest waste management firm in the United States, on June 23, 2008 it announced its intention to purchase its larger competitor Allied Waste Industries for $6.1 billion USD in Republic Services stock. The merged company will retain the Republic name and become the second largest (after Waste Management, Inc) non-hazardous solid waste management company in the United States.[1]
With its acquisition, Republic inherited Allied Waste's extensive market, including more than 10 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across 128 major markets in 40 states and Puerto Rico.[2] Together with Waste Management, Inc, it handles more than half of all garbage collection in the United States.[3]
On December 5, 2008, the merged Republic Services, Inc. relocated its corporate office from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Phoenix, Arizona (Allied's current headquarters) and controls the following combined operations, compared here with their larger competitor Waste Management, Inc:[4]
| Republic | Waste Management | |
|---|---|---|
| Employees | 36000 | 50000 |
| Landfills | 219 | 283 |
| Transfer stations | 242 | 370 |
| Collection operations | 427 | 413 |
| Recycling plants | 86 | 131 |
Some of Republic's facilities may be closed or consolidated during the integration.
On July 14, 2008, competitors Waste Management, Inc announced a $34 per share offer to acquire Republic Services.[5] On July 18, 2008, the Republic Services board of directors announced that it would not enter negotiations with Waste Management and "remains committed to the Allied Waste transaction."[6] On August 11, 2008, the bid was raised to $37 per share; this second offer was rejected on August 15, 2008.[7]
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On May 6, 2010 Allied Waste, a Republic Services company dedicated an upgrade to its Pacific Region Compost Facility (PRC) that will serve as the state’s first food composting facility. This is Oregon’s first facility permitted to accept all food waste including meat, bread and vegetable products. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) found that almost 15 percent of the material landfilled in Oregon is food waste. Accepting food waste, as opposed to just yard waste, requires additional infrastructure and equipment. Allied Waste paved 2 acres (8,100 m2) and purchased and installed a composting system that has been used successfully in numerous facilities in Washington and California. Called “aerated static pile technology”, this system captures and controls emissions from the composting process using a negative air system and requires a smaller footprint than other methods, which also reduces the amount of storm water runoff.[8][9][10]
On June 14, 2010, long time Republic CEO James O’Connor said he will step down in January 2011. Donald Slager, a former Allied executive and Republic’s current chief operating officer who started his career as a trash truck driver, will become the new chief.
The Wall Street Journal reported in June 2010 that one trash merger that has been successful from the start is Republic Services’ $4 billion acquisition of Allied in December 2008. The combined company has delivered at the high end of the annual savings projected when they did the deal ($191 million). Republic’s share price has since increased 27%, and big-name investors have directed their attention to the company. In mid-2009, Warren Buffet accumulated about 10 million shares (equaling a roughly 3% stake), while Bill Gates remains one of the largest investors, with a roughly 15% stake.[11]
Republic Services owns and operates the largest landfill in the United States at 2,200 acres (890 ha) located in Apex, Nevada.[12]
In January 2010 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP) selected three Republic Services landfill gas-to-energy projects (LFGTE) as LFGTE Projects of the Year for 2009. Ox Mountain Landfill in Half Moon Bay, California; Jefferson City Landfill in Jefferson City, Missouri and Oak Grove Landfill in Winder, Georgia were honored at the annual LMOP conference in Baltimore in January 2010. Republic Services has developed LFGTE projects at more than one-third of the company’s 213 landfills. These 74 projects include:
The 52 electric projects generate 323 MW of electricity, enough to power about 192,000 homes. The 22 other projects provide or process more than 58,000 scfm of gas, energy needed to heat almost 200,000 homes. The environmental benefits of all of the projects combined are equivalent to removing approximately 4 million cars from the road.[13]
On September 21, 2009, Newsweek released their "Green Rankings",[14] a ranking of the 500 largest corporations on their track record on a number of environmental issues. Republic Services was ranked 448th out of 500 overall, and 46th out of 50 in their industry.[15]
Republic Services has also had several high-profile fines levied against it by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and states' Department of Environmental Protection in the last several years.
On April 23, 2009 Republic Services received the first-ever Environmental Award by CSX Transportation at the awards dinner held in Jacksonville, FL. In 2008, Republic reduced carbon emissions by 389,520 tons by shipping refuse on CSXT freight rail. In addition, by choosing to ship via rail, the company conserves fossil fuels and helps alleviate congestion on the roads. Republic is one of 19 CSXT customers who, together in 2008 avoided over 1.2 million tons of carbon emissions by shipping with CSXT versus the highway alternative.[16]
In 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency of Ohio levied a $10 million fine after Republic "failed to extinguish" an "aluminum dross reaction/fire" at their Countywide Landfill.[17]
In 2008, Republic Services agreed to pay a $1 million fine and up to $36 million in remediation costs for violations of the Clean Water Act at a closed landfill in Clark County, Nevada.[18]
In 2007, Republic Services was fined $725,000 by the State of California relating to the risk of hazardous waste leaking from a closed landfill into San Francisco Bay.[19]
In 2002, Allied Waste (then its own company, as this was prior to the merger) was orderd to pay a fine of $782,550 by the EPA and spend $2.3 million on an environmental project to improve air quality following violations of the Clean Air Act in Roxbury, Massachusetts.[20]
In April 2009, Republic Services won CSX Transportation's first annual "Green Transportation Award" for shipping practices that significantly reduced carbon emissions.[21]