WM Buys Back Peltz Shares

Waste Management Inc., Houston, has re-purchased the holdings of minority partners from the former Peltz Group who owned shares in Waste Management’s Recycle America Alliance LLC subsidiary.

According to a Waste Management news release, Harry Pelz, Shawn Lavin and other former Pelz executives will continue their roles with the subsidiary, now to be known as WM Recycle America LLC (WMRA).

“These changes to WM Recycle America’s ownership further my stated goal of achieving a better alignment between our material recovery facilities (MRFs) and Waste Management’s hauling operations, and should close a decision-making gap, encouraging the majority of Waste Management hauling recyclables to be internalized,” says Patrick DeRueda, president of WMRA.

The name change will also include an image makeover that will see the separate Recycle America Alliance brand begin to fade away. “Changing the name to WM Recycle America, with a corresponding modification to its logo to more closely match that of Waste Management, are changes that visually illustrate the company’s ongoing commitment to recycling as part of its core business,” says DeRueda.

Adds Harry Pelz, “Some customers were simply confused when Waste Management and Recycle America Alliance offered bundled services. They got the impression that we were two completely separate companies.”

WMRA currently operates 92 recycling facilities in the United States and Canada, offering services to both residential and commercial customers.