Casella Waste Sells Tire Recycling Operation

Rutland, VT - Casella Waste Systems, Inc. a non-hazardous solid waste services company, announced that it has completed a transaction divesting its tire recycling assets.

The company said it has sold slightly more than eighty percent of its interest in its tire recycling operation to a private investor. As part of the transaction, the company will retain less than twenty percent of the ownership interest in the business through a subsidiary. The company also retained operational and ownership responsibility for its interest in the New Heights power plant.

"We have essentially divested the vast majority of the ownership and our day-to-day operational involvement in the tire recycling business," John W. Casella, chairman and chief executive officer of Casella Waste Systems, said.

"The structure of this transaction allows us to eliminate the demand this business placed on management's time and attention, and on our resources."

Proceeds to the company from the divestiture totaled approximately $13 million, which the company said it used to reduce its indebtedness under its senior credit facility. The company also said it has received to date total proceeds of $94 million from its divestiture program.

"Earlier this year, we set the expectation that our total proceeds from all divestitures would be approximately $90 million, a target we've obviously surpassed even though we have a number of transactions remaining before our divestiture program is complete," Casella said.

The transaction was another step in Casella Waste Systems' strategic effort to realign the company along its core traditional solid waste service business.