Let's get together... Shares of both Waste Management and Advanced Disposal jumped Monday on word the trash titans are merging. That crams the #1 and #4 solid waste companies under one lid. Investors like Houston-based Waste Management's new, polished look:
- 25M customers across just about every US state
- 50K employees
- $17B annual revenue
- 310 Landfills (!)
Consolidate trash into 1 can... Then save money. That's basically why this happened. Waste Management thinks it can save $100M every year on "synergies" — Cutting redundant costs and using its bigger size to negotiate lower prices. Now regulators just have to stamp approval that this keeps the trash industry competitive.
Managing waste is hard... Waste Management is on it. First, it hauls trash from residential, government, and corporate customers. Then it sorts recycling. Then it compacts. Then it packs landfills. That all requires humans and machines (lots). But it's not all dirty — Now Waste Management renews gas from landfills into electric energy. Power move.