In this article we are going to list the 5 biggest waste management companies in the world. For a detailed coverage of this topic and a more comprehensive list, please head on over to the 10 biggest waste management companies in the world.
5. Cleanharbors (NYSE:CLH)
Revenue of the company in 2019 (in 000’s of dollars): 3,412
Total comprehensive income of the company in 2019 (in 000’s of dollars): 111
Total assets of the company in 2019 (in 000’s of dollars): 4,109
Total employees of the company in 2019: 14,400
Most of the companies in our list of the biggest waste management companies are now going to be from the US which includes Cleanharbors, which provides waste management services to Fortune 500 companies.
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4. Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN)
Revenue of the company in 2019 (in 000’s of dollars): 5,389
Total comprehensive income of the company in 2019 (in 000’s of dollars): 566
Total assets of the company in 2019 (in 000’s of dollars): 13,738
Total employees of the company in 2019: 16,000
Based in California, the company was founded 23 years ago in 1997, with the vast majority of the revenue coming from solid waste collection.
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3. Veolia Waste Management
Revenue of the company in 2019 (in 000’s of dollars): 12,505
Total comprehensive income of the company in 2019 (in 000’s of dollars): 328
Total assets of the company in 2019 (in 000’s of dollars): 18,867
Total employees of the company in 2019: 179,000
Veolia Environment is an absolute giant of a company, but the thing is, it is engaged in services other than waste management too. Luckily for us, the company’s annual bifurcated the revenue among different services including waste management. So we took the ratio of the waste management revenue with the total revenue of the company and applied it on the comprehensive income and assets of the company as well. The company treats both hazardous as well as non-hazardous waste, which includes solid waste.
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2. Republic Services (NYSE:RSG)
Revenue of the company in 2019 (in 000’s of dollars): 10,299
Total comprehensive income of the company in 2019 (in 000’s of dollars): 1,073
Total assets of the company in 2019 (in 000’s of dollars): 22,684
Total employees of the company in 2019: 36,000
The second biggest waste management company in the US is also the second biggest waste management company in the world, and along with our number one entry, is responsible for half of the garbage collection in the country. It is involved in non-hazardous solid waste collection as well as its recycling, transfer and disposal. The company was founded 22 years ago in 1998 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. The company has one of the largest truck fleets in the country with 16,000 trucks.
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1. Waste Management (NYSE:WM)
Revenue of the company in 2019 (in 000’s of dollars): 15,455
Total comprehensive income of the company in 2019 (in 000’s of dollars): 1,749
Total assets of the company in 2019 (in 000’s of dollars): 27,743
Total employees of the company in 2019: 44,900
Topping the list of the 5 biggest waste management companies in the world is the very appropriately named Waste Management, which is also one of the oldest companies in our list, having been founded 53 years ago in 1968. The company is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has 346 transfer stations, 146 recycling plants, 293 active landfill disposal sites, six independent power production plants and 111 beneficial use landfill gas projects. The company’s massive resources have enabled it to provide environmental and waste management services to at least 21 million households across the United States. The company also has at least 26,000 collection as well as transfer vehicles which means it has the largest fleet in the entire waste management industry on a global level.
Along with Republic Services, Waste Management provides more than half of the garbage collection in the United States, which is no mean feat. Even the waste management industry is not safe from malpractice or accusations of impropriety though, which is why Waste Management as been involved in a fair few issues of its own, which includes accounting improprieties in 1998, which led to the company losing more than $6 billion in value. In 2005, it entered into an agreement with SAP AG, one of the biggest IT services companies in the world, but the project was not completed by 2007 and was considered to be a complete failure and a blackmark on the company. This eventually led to a case between the company and SAP which in turn led to a one time payment from SAP to the company.
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