Dive Brief:
- Century Waste Services acquired assets from Priority First Carting in New York City on June 16, the parties confirmed this week. The deal allows Century to take over as the third contracted hauler in Staten Island under the city’s commercial waste zone system, alongside Cogent Waste Solutions and Green Environmental Services.
- Century was initially shut out of the CWZ system when zone awards were announced in 2024. The company sued New York City’s Department of Sanitation in December over the decision to award Priority First a contract in Staten Island. It has since dropped the lawsuit.
- Century was also selected by New York City’s Department of Sanitation as a citywide containerized commercial waste service provider in May. It takes over that contract from Filco Carting, which was acquired by Interstate Waste Services subsidiary Action Environmental last year.
Dive Insight:
The deal represents the latest shake-up in New York City’s network of haulers moving forward within the CWZ system. Haulers have engaged in deals to consolidate operations since zone awards were announced two years ago, but they are only allowed to serve a maximum of 15 zones in the 20-zone system. When an acquisition pushes an operator past that cap, it creates a vacancy that DSNY fills with another hauler.
The system rollout is ongoing. The borough of Staten Island is covered by a single zone, with implementation scheduled to begin Wednesday. DSNY is also implementing the Midtown South zone on July 1, with other zones coming online on a rolling basis through the end of next year.
In a statement, the city agency confirmed that Century had obtained approval to serve the Staten Island waste zone, and that it anticipates no changes to the zone’s rollout as a result of the deal. Because the deal closed prior to the zone’s rollout, Priority First had not yet begun signing up customers as a CWZ service provider.
Both deal parties praised DSNY and New York City’s Business Integrity Commission for handling the transition in a timely manner. Century owner and CEO Marc Savino said he expects a smooth transition in advance of the zone start date.
“This acquisition allows Century not only to continue its substantial operations in its base of Staten Island, but increases its footprint in the Borough to roughly 40% of the commercial customers in this Zone,” Savino said. “The customers of Priority First Carting will begin to experience the excellent service and outstanding customer support of which Century's current customers have long grown accustomed.”
Freddie Gonzalez, who founded Priority First in 2013, declined to disclose the size of the company’s Staten Island operations. He said he would retain the company trademarks and its license to operate in New Jersey, but he would be taking a break from the waste industry following the deal.
Century Waste Services was founded in 2002 and today owns a fleet of more than 40 vehicles serving New York and New Jersey, Savino said.
He noted the company had plenty of synergies with Priority First’s footprint in the borough that can now be served by the same route.
“I think this definitely accomplished what [DSNY] set out to do with logistics and routing,” Savino said.
While the company had served commercial waste clients in Staten Island for much of its tenure, it was denied a zone award in the borough when DSNY released its final decision in February 2024. It also lost out on zones in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and later sold its routes in those boroughs to Waste Connections.
Century subsequently sued DSNY over that decision, alleging Priority First had claimed it could charge unsustainably low prices for commercial waste services.
Gonzalez said he stands by the pricing Priority First submitted in its communications with DSNY, and noted his company’s safety record helped it secure the award. He also said he believes the agency did its due diligence and acted appropriately in selecting Priority First for the Staten Island waste zone award.
The deal with Century came together thanks to several longtime waste industry professionals. Bobby Choe, president of consulting firm Academie NBD, advised Priority First Carting on the transaction. Academie also retained Locol Waste and its founder Adam Pasquale as an industry consultant on the deal.
Pasquale and Gonzalez both previously worked at Action Carting, which was acquired by Interstate Waste Services during their tenures. Pasquale later co-founded Recycle Track Systems in 2014. RTS retained Priority First Carting as its first hauler partner.
In 2022, Pasquale also became an executive at Filco Carting, another local New York hauler, before it was acquired by IWS last year.
“Freddie built a company that earned this outcome, and Century is the right home for what he built. Adam's lifetime in this industry, and his relationships with both Freddie and Marc, made this a transaction we could guide with confidence,” Choe said in a statement.
