Casella Divests Tire Recycling Division

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has completed a transaction divesting its tire recycling assets.

The company has sold slightly more than 80 percent of its interest in its tire recycling operation to a private investor. As part of the transaction, the company will retain less than twenty percent of the ownership interest in the business through a subsidiary. The company also retained operational and ownership responsibility for its interest in the New Heights power plant.

Proceeds to the company from the divestiture totaled approximately $13 million, which the company said it used to reduce its indebtedness under its senior credit facility. The company also said it has received to date total proceeds of $94 million from its divestiture program.

The transaction was another step in Casella Waste Systems' strategic effort to realign the company along its core traditional solid waste service business.

This past summer Casella announced plans to divest itself of non-core assets. In addition to the tire recycling division, other areas which have either been sold off scheduled to be sold include: mulch, waste remediation, waste plastics, non-core energy and non-core fiber recycling.

According to Joe Fusco, vice president of Casella, the company hopes to complete the sale of its non-core assets by the end of its fiscal second quarter, which ends at the end of next month.

Casella Waste Systems, headquartered in Rutland, Vermont, is a regional, integrated, non-hazardous solid waste services company that provides collection, transfer, disposal and recycling services primarily in the northeastern United States.