Waste Management acquires Pioneer Industries' Milwaukee operations

Waste Management of Wisconsin Inc. has acquired Pioneer Industries of Wisconsin’s Milwaukee operations, Waste Management announced. The Pioneer facility, which specializes in handling old corrugated containers (OCC) and high grades of recovered fiber, provided recycling services through the Greater Milwaukee area.

Following completion of the deal, Waste Management will consolidate Pioneer’s Milwaukee operations with its A-1 recycling facility in Milwaukee. The acquisition includes the company’s rolling stock, its book of business, a baler and other recycling equipment.

“We’re expanding our strategic investment in one of recycling’s strongest niche services, high-volume recycling for business and industry,” says Mike Ayers, area director of recycling operations for Waste Management. “Commercial enterprises can produce high volumes of clean, consistent recyclables that often find ready markets.”

Waste Management says the acquisition complements its high-grade recycling plants in the Wisconsin cities of Janesville, Madison, Menasha and Milwaukee. Those operations collect and process a full range of recyclables for commercial customers, including industrial plastics, medical wrap and off-spec products, in addition to traditional recyclables, such as cardboard and paper. Most of the materials are then marketed by Waste Management’s recycling brokerage service in Glendale, Wisconsin.

“We plan to continue Pioneer’s great service to our new customers and bring them the opportunity to recycle an expanded range of products,” Ayers says. “When we survey a customer’s waste stream, many are pleased to learn that recycling markets have emerged for materials they assumed could only be thrown away.”

Waste Management will relocate Pioneer’s operations to its A-1 recycling hub at 2101 W. Morgan Ave. in Milwaukee, he says.

In addition to its high-grade recycling plants and recycling brokerage, Waste Management deploys a statewide fleet of recycling drivers and collection vehicles and operates Wisconsin’s largest recycling sorting plant in Germantown, Wisconsin.