Waste Management Acquires Garick LLC

Waste Management, Inc. has acquired a majority equity interest in Garick LLC, a manufacturer, and distributor of organic lawn and garden products. Waste Management says that this move will allow it to accelerate the expansion of its organics recycling services and develop value added organic products. Garick's operations will add commercial and consumer organic products to Waste Management's organics recycling business, as well as over 1 million tons of processing capacity. In addition, it is thought the move could lead to the development of composting and bagging facilities at Waste Management facilities throughout North America. In the United States, approximately one 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. Waste Management say this expansion of organic recycling services and products will be beneficial to 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 businesses and municipalities 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. "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," added Cesarek.