WCA Waste Corp. acquisitions consolidate area trash industry

The Houston-based solid waste management company bought Springfield-based Klean Way Disposal Inc. for an undisclosed price March 30, three months after acquiring Springfield-based Sunrise Disposal for an undisclosed price.

No more acquisitions are planned, but WCA is seeking internal growth, according to Springfield Division Manager David Cepero, who declined to share specific growth goals.

“In the trash business, you either keep growing or you go away,” Cepero said. “It’s a tough business, and there’s no stand-still.”

The acquisitions solidify WCA’s position as the second-largest trash hauler in town. Allied Waste Service is No. 1 with 75 local trucks as of Jan. 5, according to Springfield Business Journal’s 2007 Book of Lists. Phoenix-based Allied Waste is the second-largest solid waste management company in the country, with 10 million customers and annual revenues of more than $5 billion, according to www.disposal.com. Local General Manager Kurt Bodendorfer was unavailable for comment. Klean Way Disposal was No. 5 on SBJ’s list, with Advantage Waste Service and Karmann Refuse Service at Nos. 3 and 4, respectively.

WCA had 35 trucks, 75 employees and 22,000 customers in Springfield before the acquisitions. It added about five trucks, five employees and 7,000 customers through each purchase. The trucks are being repainted, but trash cans will only be replaced as they wear out, Cepero said.

WCA is among the top 25 solid waste management companies in the United States, based on revenues, according to Cepero. WCA has 250,000 customers in 12 central and southern states and generated $150 million in revenues in 2006, according to www.wcawaste.com. Its first-quarter results are scheduled for release May 3.

Klean Way founder Leroy Johnson has retired following the sale. He said WCA approached him about buying his 30-year-old company late last year.

Sunrise was established in 2002 by Chuck Carr, who is now general manager for WCA in Lebanon. Carr said labor problems led him to sell his company on Dec. 30 after two years of negotiations.

“Right now, the labor market is so bad,” he said. “Unemployment is down and qualified people are very hard to get.”

At Sunrise, Carr offered beginning drivers $450 weekly salary plus bonuses, he said. WCA pays beginning drivers $10 to $14 per hour, according to Cepero.

WCA was formed both nationally and locally in 2000 with the acquisition of assets from Houston-based Waste Management Inc., which no longer has a local presence. Waste Management is the largest solid waste management company in the United States with 21 million customers, according to www.wm.com.