Allied Waste Industries, Inc. was a

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...

company headquartered in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. A vertically integrated company that owned and operated solid waste collection businesses,

recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the propert ...

facilities, and

landfill A landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, waste was ...

s, it was a leader in the

solid waste Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste, ...

industry in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It served more than 10 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across 128 major markets in 37 states and

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. After purchasing

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

-based giant waste hauler

Browning-Ferris Industries Browning-Ferris Industries was a North American waste management company that was bought out in 1999. History BFI was founded in Houston, Texas. The company was initially known as American Refuse Systems, and it opened its first landfill in 1968 ...

(BFI) in 1999, together with

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

firms the

Blackstone Group Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. It was founded in 1985 as a mergers and acquisitions firm by Peter Peterson and Stephen Schwarzman, who had previously worked together at Lehman ...

and

Apollo Management Apollo Global Management, Inc. is an American Asset Management, asset management firm that primarily invests in alternative assets. , the company had $548 billion of assets under management, including $392 billion invested in credit, including ...

, Allied Waste Industries, Inc. became the second largest non-hazardous solid waste management company in the United States (behind industry leader

Waste Management, Inc. Waste Management, Inc., doing business as WM, is a waste management, comprehensive waste, and environmental services company operating in North America. Founded in 1968, the company is headquartered in the Bank of America Tower in Houston, Te ...

), with annual revenues of over $5 billion and assets of nearly $14 billion. On June 23, 2008, Allied was purchased by its smaller competitor

Republic Services, Inc Republic Services, Inc. is a North American waste disposal company whose services include non-hazardous solid waste collection, waste transfer, waste disposal, recycling, and energy services. It is the second largest provider of waste disposal in ...

for US$6.1 billion. The merged company, retaining the ''Republic'' name, has become the second largest non-hazardous solid waste management company in the United States.

Environmental record

The company had a plan to reduce its local

carbon footprint A carbon footprint (or greenhouse gas footprint) is a calculated value or index that makes it possible to compare the total amount of greenhouse gases that an activity, product, company or country Greenhouse gas emissions, adds to the atmospher ...

by more than 3.3 million pounds each year in

San Mateo County, California San Mateo County ( ), officially the County of San Mateo, is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 764,442. Redwood City, California, Redwood City is th ...

, by converting its monthly 80,000 gallons of petroleum

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine ...

to B20

bio-diesel Biodiesel is a renewable biofuel, a form of diesel fuel, derived from biological sources like vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled greases, and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made from fats. The roots of ...

fuel. Allied Waste converted the local 225-truck fleet to the cleaner-burning B20. Allied Waste was a member of the

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a Green building certification systems, green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating ...

(LEEDS) Program which is outlined by the U.S. Green Building Council. John J. Zillmer, chairman and chief executive officer of Allied Waste, said, "Allied Waste has long been an active steward of our environment...we aim to employ environmentally responsible and sustainable practices." Allied Waste also implemented innovations such as gas-to-energy projects. Gas-to-energy converts waste gas from landfills into electricity which offsets conventional use of oil and natural gas.Creating Cleaner and Greener Communities
2008 retrieved 14 May 2008

References

External links

{{Authority control, state=expanded Companies based in Phoenix, Arizona Waste companies established in 1988 Waste management companies of the United States 2008 mergers and acquisitions American corporate subsidiaries