Dive Brief:
- Laurel Mountain Partners acquired Compost Colorado and Wompost in October, rolling them into its Denver-area waste hauler 5280 Waste Solutions. The deal adds one commercial composting facility and a pair of organics hauling operations.
- Laurel announced a senior subordinated debt and equity investment in 5280 Waste Solutions last year. The hauler at the time had a foundation in the C&D waste sector with a roll-off business, but Laurel plans to expand the company's commercial and residential service offerings.
- The transaction occurs a few months after the Denver City Council approved new rules for its Universal Recycling and Composting Ordinance. Starting Sept. 1, multifamily buildings and food waste producers will be required to provide composting services for residents and back-of-house staff, respectively.
Dive Insight:
Colorado residents have been vocal in urging changes to the state’s waste policies in recent years, and officials have responded. That’s led to increased waste and recycling infrastructure investment.
In 2022, Denver residents passed the “Waste No More” ballot initiative that called for expanded recycling and compost collection requirements. Following its approval, the city formed a task force that worked with staff to finalize ordinance language. The Universal Recycling and Composting Ordinance’s requirements go into effect Sept. 1.
5280 has a fleet of more than 40 trucks serving the Denver metro area, and offers a range of residential, commercial and roll-off dumpster services to the city and its suburbs. But until this transaction, the hauler did not have an organic waste collection service line.
Both Compost Colorado and Wompost are on the list of Denver's licensed compost haulers. 5280 is also on the list of commercial, multifamily and institutional haulers, but the acquisitions allow the hauler to be a “one-stop shop for customers,” said Meredith Mattson, a partner at Laurel Mountain Partners.
“These acquisitions are really helping both us and the whole city to move towards a cleaner Colorado,” Mattson said. “We can put our resources and all of our force behind the composting mission and help really scale the existing infrastructure in Denver.”
The two compost haulers employ different collection styles. Aurora-based Wompost used a rear-load truck and trailer system, while Denver-based Compost Colorado runs a cart swap service using box trucks and sprinter vans.
Mattson said the company would continue offering both collection styles, noting they each provide "unique strengths."
Compost Colorado also opened a commercial compost site in north Denver last year. The facility uses a pair of in-vessel composters and can process up to 2,500 cubic yards of organic waste annually, producing 600 cubic yards of finished compost.
The site is the city of Denver's first commercial composting facility, and it’s small enough to be considered a commercially exempt small quantity composting site under Colorado law. That limits the amount of material the facility can currently accept, but Laurel is already looking into ways to expand capacity.
“Our goal is to process all of the volume ourselves,” said Mattson.
The family office also runs another waste business on Colorado's Western Slope, Bruin Waste Management. It’s similarly looking to expand the hauler's residential service offerings to include more recycling and eventually compost, said Jeff Kendall, Laurel Mountain Partners’ president and managing partner.
In recent years, Colorado has also approved updates to its landfill regulations and adopted an extended producer responsibility law for packaging. Waste companies have responded by expanding MRF capacity, including Bruin Waste Management, which is building a MRF in partnership with the city of Grand Junction.
"There’s been a lot of pressure to remove food waste out of landfills," Kendall said. "It’s a bit of a no brainer, arguably, to do it."
