Circular Services, the recycling company backed by Closed Loop Partners, announced Wednesday it acquired Atlas Organics from Generate Capital. Atlas' eight composting sites will expand Circular Services’ presence in the organics recycling space.
The deal builds on Circular Services' recent acquisitions of Quantum Organics and Blue Earth Compost, which operate organics recycling services in Connecticut. Circular Services now has a portfolio of 35 processing facilities across material types.
David Bahrenburg, vice president of operations at Atlas Organics, said in a statement that the deal would allow the company to “expand our impact and continue delivering on our mission of organics management at scale.” It comes nearly four years after Generate Capital acquired a majority stake in the South Carolina-based company.
In the years since, Generate has seen growth in its anaerobic digestion portfolio, which is centered in North America around New York state and Ontario. Last month, the company closed a $60 million (Canadian) deal with Fiera Infrastructure Private Debt to further support the development of its food waste processing portfolio. Generate Upcycle has been in the process of upgrading its facilities to produce more RNG.
Atlas Organics acquired three major composting sites in Florida shortly after the Generate Capital deal. Atlas became a key piece of the Generate Upcycle platform that Generate Capital launched four months after the deal, which also included the investor’s portfolio of anaerobic digestion facilities. Generate Upcycle President Bill Caesar previously told Waste Dive there were opportunities to share feedstocks and byproducts between the two processing types, though their footprints did not have any initial overlap.
Atlas has experienced some setbacks in the years since: halting collection service in parts of Tennessee and South Carolina in 2023 and later withdrawing plans to construct a facility in Chattanooga. The company also briefly acquired Oregon composting company Dirt Hugger, only to sell the business back to its co-founders 14 months later after determining it wasn't a good fit. The Dirt Hugger team expressed its appreciation to Caesar and the Generate team in a blog post announcing the repurchase.
Atlas Organics has not publicized any additional acquisitions since then. The division currently has the capacity to process 800,000 tons of organics annually across its facilities, according to Generate Upcycle’s impact report released in September.
“Over the past four years, Generate Upcycle has invested significant time, energy and resources into positioning Atlas for profitable growth. With Circular Services’ geographic alignment in the markets Atlas serves, Atlas is now better positioned to fully realize its potential,” Caesar said in a statement.
“This transition also allows Upcycle to focus on building upon its position as the largest producer of RNG from food waste in North America and on expanding our anaerobic digestion platform, which includes 12 sites across North America and the UK,” he added.
Before Generate acquired its controlling interest in Atlas, the latter’s investors included Closed Loop Ventures, an early-stage investment arm of Closed Loop Partners. Other early Atlas investors included Venture South and Spring Lane Capital.
New York-based Closed Loop Partners launched Circular Services in 2022, folding together several recycling assets like Balcones Resources and Sims Municipal Recycling into a company with more than 20 MRFs. Upon launching, the company also had U.S. distribution rights for modular anaerobic digestion system HomeBiogas.
Closed Loop Partners has taken a continued interest in the organics space. Its capital management arm, which is separate from Circular Services, acquired Agri-Cycle in August for an undisclosed sum. Maine-based Agri-Cycle touted its presence in 14 states when the transaction was announced.
