By Jim Johnson
WASTE NEWS - October 9, 2006 - Part of WHI Capital Partners'
interest in Waste Management Inc.'s glass recycling division lies in
the grit of the business.
Chicago-based WHI Capital Partners sees an opportunity to utilize
the tiniest fragments from the operations that can't be reused in the
glass industry because they burn up in furnaces.
Instead of throwing away these "fines," the material now will be
sold elsewhere, including the abrasives and fiberglass markets, said
Adam Schecter, managing partner of the investment firm.
But that's not the only reason the private equity firm is buying the
business, known as Container Recycling Alliance, along with former CRA
head Tom Riek.
Riek was president of CRA from 2001 to 2004 before being promoted to
finance director of Waste Management Recycle America, the company's
recycling division. He returns to CRA as CEO of the business, which
has eight locations and processes 500,000 tons of glass annually.
"We think the glass recycling-collection-processing opportunity is a
good one," Schecter said. "We just thought it was a good, solid,
stable business."
CRA has locations in Hayward, Madera, and Vernon, CA; Chicago, IL; Franklin, MA; Bridgeport, NJ; Raleigh NC; and East Troy, WI.
"This is a great cash flow business from a leveraged buyout standpoint," Schecter said.
Waste Management had explored a sale of CRA since the first half of
2005, when the company decided the assets were not part of its core
recycling business, spokeswoman Liz Johnson wrote in an e-mail
interview. "WM Recycle America is extremely committed to recycling and
wants to focus on our core business," she wrote.
The sale, the terms of which were not revealed, does not impact
Waste Management's curbside glass collection business. The company has
a long-term agreement with the new owners of CRA to provide glass to
the eight recycling sites that were sold.
WHI Capital Partners already has a presence in environmental
management. The group owns Emerald Waste, which operates landfills,
hauling fleets and portable toilet units in Florida.
Contact Waste News senior reporter Jim Johnson at (937) 964-1289 or jpjohnson@crain.com