Staff Report

Houston-based Waste Management has made what it is calling a “strategic investment” in Wilmington, Del.-based Peninsula Compost Co. (PCC). The latter is the owner and operator of the Wilmington Organic Recycling Center, which makes compost by taking in approximately 300 tons of organic waste each day, according to a Waste Management press release. The center has a permitted capacity of 600 tons per day.

The amount of the investment was not disclosed in the press release.

“Recycling organics through composting and other technologies that may produce lawn and garden materials, energy, transportation fuels or specialty chemicals enables us to generate more value from this specific material stream,” said Tim Cesarek, managing director of organic growth at Waste Management, in a statement. “Combining Waste Management’s leadership and expertise in organic composting will be key to developing new, high value-added end markets for organic materials and accelerating the growth of organics recycling across North America.”

Waste Management’s investment in PCC is one of a string of recent investments that firm has made in companies that process and recycle organic waste. Last September, Waste Management purchased a majority interest in Cleveland-based Garick LLC, a manufacturer of organic lawn and garden products such as Black Satin mulch, Organic Valley soil and Moo-Nure compost.

Previous investments include ones in Harvest Power, which uses anaerobic digestion to produce biogas from organic waste; in Enerkem, which converts waste into biofuels; and in Terrabon, which creates high-octane fuel from food and yard waste.

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