Houston-based WM has made two acquisitions in recent weeks. The company acquired Clayton, Indiana-based Ray’s Trash Service and Harrisonburg, Virginia-based Green Earth LLC.

According to a report from Indianapolis-based WRTV, WM acquired key assets of Ray’s Trash Service, which is a large family-owned recycling and waste collection operation.

Ray’s Trash Service was founded in 1965 and provides recycling and waste disposal services for 17 counties in central Indiana, according to information on the company’s website. It operates eight facilities across the region and offers construction site services, including LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-compliant ones.

"We look forward to the integration and value that this acquisition will bring to expand and advance WM's environmental services in central Indiana," WM says in a statement it has shared with Recycling Today regarding this acquisition. "We are excited to welcome our new employees into the WM family and for the opportunity to provide exceptional service to our customers in the Indianapolis market. WM remains committed to providing the Indianapolis area with quality recycling and waste disposal services for years to come, with an emphasis on supporting the cultivation of community vitality and sustainable growth in the region."

According to a letter Green Earth sent to its customers, WM completed the acquisition of that business Sept. 1. Green Earth has provided residential and commercial collection services to residents in Rockingham County, Virginia, as well as a material recovery facility and container rental services. The Facebook page of Green Earth indicates it focused in part on collecting construction and demolition (C&D) materials.

Green Earth’s letter to its customers states that WM has been a waste services provider in Virginia’s Rockingham County for more than 20 years. Green Earth says it chose WM as a buyer since it is “confident that they are the company most capable of providing the same safe and superior service” to its customers.

WM did not share how much it paid for these two acquisitions; however, according to the company's second-quarter earnings report, WM intends to spend $300 to $400 million on acquisitions in its 2022 fiscal year.

The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) and Northeast Waste Management Officials’ Association (NEWMOA) have announced the publication of its Model Minimum Postconsumer Recycled Content Requirements for Plastic Products and Packaging Legislation. This model is the result of two years’ worth of work by a group of state recycling officials from the Northeast and incorporates many suggestions received from 36 organizations and individuals during a public comment period in early 2022. 

While the model legislation does not reflect the specific views of NERC, NEWMOA or their respective members, it’s a best effort to provide a basis for state legislation to further the use of postconsumer resin, or PCR, in plastic products and packaging.

This model bill would require producers of covered plastic products and packaging to use a specified minimum amount of PCR , phased in over time. The covered plastic packaging and products include single-use bags; single-use containers used for food, beverages, household cleaning and personal care products; and rigid plastic containers. This model does not address all types of plastic products and packaging.

The model’s legislative strategy encourages a circular economy in plastics. The other benefits of mandating minimum PCR content in plastic products and packaging include conservation of resources, reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts from producing plastics products from petroleum, strengthened domestic markets for products made with postconsumer plastics and increased stability in the plastic scrap markets.

As nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations, neither NERC nor NEWMOA say they will lobby for this model legislation. It is intended as a tool for interested organizations and legislators to consider when examining opportunities for the use of minimum PCR content legislation and implementation.

Paperboard and packaging producer DS Smith says it has seen strong growth in profits and returns in the first quarter of its fiscal year, which began May 1, adding that the results are underpinned by “excellent customer relationships, continued price recovery and good cost and cash management.”

The London-based company, with growing operations in the United States, notes several highlights of the quarter in a report released Tuesday and says overall trading is in line with its expectations driven by pricing momentum and good cost control.

“We have started the financial year very strongly despite the current macroeconomic conditions,” DS Smith Chief Executive Miles Roberts says. “We are focusing on ensuring the highest levels of security of supply and customer service and are very pleased with the ongoing support we receive from both our customer and supplier base.”

Corrugated box volumes decreased slightly in the first quarter on a like-for-like basis against 13 percent growth in the comparative quarter, which DS Smith says it expected, but the company says it continues to expect growth of at least 2 percent for the full year, which is in line for its full-year expectations of significant improvement in overall performance.

“Whilst the industrial sector is showing some weakness, our FMCG [fast-moving consumer goods] business remains resilient,” Roberts says.

Similarly across the industry, DS Smith says virtually all input costs, including energy, have increased significantly but have been substantially mitigated by the company’s efficiency initiatives and a long-term hedging program. Currently, DS Smith says more than 90 percent of natural gas costs hedged for fiscal year 2023 are recovered through increased packaging pricing, and long-term supplier relationships and other cost management programs are in place to mitigate inflation.

The company says it is continuing strong operating cashflow generation and that its outlook for FY23 remains unchanged “with an expectation of a significant improvement in performance.”

“Overall returns on capital remain within our medium-term target,” Roberts says. “As we enter the second quarter, we are very mindful of the challenging economic environment in which we operate and the impact it has on both our customers and our colleagues. However, our operating plans and progress to date continue to give us confidence in our outlook for FY23.”

Roberts also presented to shareholders an in-depth look at the financial and environmental performance of the last fiscal year, which ended in April. The results showed record volume growth of 5.4 percent and a 64 percent increase in profits before tax.

“During a really changing and volatile economic environment, we stayed really close to our customers, responding to their changing needs,” Roberts said during a presentation on last year’s results.

The report discussed DS Smith’s environmental impact, too, which Roberts said it has “a leadership position in” and, compared with last year, the company has further improved.

RELATED: DS Smith removes more than 313M pieces of ‘problem’ plastics

In fiscal year 2022, DS Smith reduced its CO₂ emissions by 5 percent, bringing its total reduction achieved to 29 percent per metric ton of production since 2015.

But Roberts said the company’s big development has been around what he referred to as a science-based target of 1.5 degrees Celsius as noted in the Paris Agreement, which calls for countries to take concerted climate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming. He said this means a commitment to 46 percent reduction in carbon by 2030 and net zero by 2050.

The presentation also highlighted DS Smith’s growth in circular economy initiatives, including reaching its 100 percent packaging recyclability target based on its Circular Design Metrics system, which compares the circularity of packaging designs across eight indicators: carbon footprint, design for reuse, supply chain optimization, recyclability, planet safety, material utilization, renewable source and recycled content.

The criteria were designed in partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and, according to DS Smith, 700 of its designers have been trained in the Circular Design Metrics as Roberts said the company continues to roll out the program systematically.

“We’re really excited about not only what it can do for our customers and ourselves, but also what it can do for the environment,” hesaid.

RELATED: A circular model

Roberts said DS Smith has what he called a “strong platform for growth” not only in Europe, but in the United States. While Roberts said the U.S. market is still a new position for the company, he noted it has a lot of customer backing, its profits are rising significantly and it produces the best return on sales in the group.

The company also plans to continue investing for “ongoing customer-led growth,” and when it comes to capacity and capability, for DS Smith that means investing in existing packaging plants, efficiency gains through enhanced technology and ongoing investment in aligning paper to customer needs.

The presentation addressed the outlook for FY23, and Roberts said DS Smith has a positive outlook despite challenging market conditions. The company already has seen a positive start to the year and expects 2 percent to 4 percent volume growth in FY23 while continued price recovery and cost management offset inflationary costs.