Profitable waste-hauling business breeds brutal competition
Source: Eric Dexheimer, AMERICAN-STATESMAN (TX), Monday, April 24, 2006
While a number of companies advertise themselves as waste haulers, a handful of big businesses control the bulk of the industry. In Central Texas, Waste Management, Allied Waste, Texas Disposal Systems and Industrial Environmental Services Inc. are the largest. The country's largest trash-hauling company is Waste Management Inc., of which the Texas branch is a subsidiary. The company operates 22 landfills in Texas, six of those in Central Texas. Last year the parent corporation reported revenue of more than $13 billion. Its profits have steadily increased since 2000.
...... The garbage companies also work hard to influence government officials. Texas Disposal Systems maintains a plush, safari-themed lodge on its grounds south of Austin, and the company lets nonprofit organizations use it for fundraising. But it's also a meet-and-greet spot for well-connected politicians. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn attended one recent political function. Scott McClellan, President Bush's former spokesman and a son of Carole Keeton Strayhorn, the state comptroller and a gubernatorial candidate, was married there.