Dive Brief:
- Lakeshore Recycling Systems (LRS) has acquired West Chicago-based K. Hoving Companies and says this now makes it the largest private waste company in Illinois. Financial terms weren't disclosed and the deal is effective immediately.
- K. Hoving Companies is a full-service company that has dumpster rental, roll-off, commercial and construction recycling, portable restrooms and street sweeping services. The company's founders will stay on to run the new LRS Temporary Services Division.
- With this acquisition, LRS will now run seven material recovery facilities and employ more than 720 full-time workers. Annual revenues are expected to increase to nearly $170 million.
Dive Insight:
LRS handles more than 2.2 million tons of waste per year and this deal now gives it control over about 20% of the roll-off market in Chicagoland. As recognized by the creation of its new division, LRS will also gain a large stake in the portable toilet and street sweeping sectors — though the environmental track record at K. Hoving Companies may have been one of the biggest selling points.
K. Hoving runs the only recycling facility in Chicago that has been certified by the Recycling Certification Institute and also shares the same "zero landfill" policy as LRS. Increasing diversion has been a high priority for LRS and this led the company to open an upgraded MRF last year — with a loan from the Closed Loop Fund — that can handle 20 tons of material per hour, including some construction and demolition waste.
Over the past year the company has also been involved in other new projects that aim to make recycling more efficient in the area. Last summer, LRS implanted RFID chips in recycling carts in one neighborhood to improve billing and the company also participated in a recent project focused on recycling plastic from hospitals. This approach, and this latest acquisition, will likely make LRS a key company to watch in 2017.
