Waste Management buys recycling competitor

Benjamin Utley sweeps plastic bottles at the Waste Management recycling facility Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012, in Houston. ( Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle ) Benjamin Utley sweeps plastic bottles at the Waste Management recycling facility Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012, in Houston. ( Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle ) Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close Waste Management buys recycling competitor 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

Houston-based Waste Management has purchased local competitor and Houston Dynamo jersey sponsor Greenstar Recycling, expanding the company's footprint in several major cities as it pursues more revenue from garbage diversion.

It doesn't plan to continue the soccer team sponsorship, said Bill Caesar, president of Waste Management's recycling and organic growth divisions.

The $180 million acquisition gives North America's leader in waste collection and processing 12 new recycling facilities, including properties in Houston and San Antonio. It now has the capacity to manage 15 million tons of recyclable material a year.

The deal also gives Waste Management a substantial presence in Pittsburgh, Allentown, Pa., Akron, Ohio, and Des Moines, Iowa, among other locations, Caesar said.

Greenstar was the nation's largest privately owned recycling business, managing more than 1.5 million tons of recycling for about 12,000 customers, according to Dublin-based waste company NTR, which sold Greenstar to Waste Management.

Though Waste Management already has a contract to process all of the residential recycling in Houston, the deal expands the company's territory in the region, giving it more sources of recyclable goods that it can sort and transform into marketable products.

"This is a sign of Waste Management's commitment to recycling," Caesar said. "This is a sizable acquisition. It significantly expands our recycling footprint and our recycling capacity, and it demonstrates that we're hearing our customers' demands for recycling and we're answering them."