Commercial & Industrial Waste Disposal

June 14, 2025

by a searcher from The Ohio State University - Max M. Fisher College of Business in Columbus, OH, USA

Came across an interesting off-market opportunity in the Corporate Waste Industry and wanted to tap into the community. I wasn't actively looking in this sector, but the initial numbers have me interested. EBITDA about $500K $2.5M sales For those of you with experience in the waste management space (especially corporate/commercial waste), what are the critical things I should be looking for or wary of as I navigate this deal other than your typical customer concentration, capex/equipment costs, etc. Thanks in advance for any insights!

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Reply by a searcher
from University of Akron in Columbus, OH, USA

Jalen, nice to see another Columbus searcher! I looked extensively at a waste management company and got extremely close to acquiring it - the things that swayed me away from it was the high capex number, the dump fees (that your largest competitor controls), and the high family employee ratio (75% of the employees were related to the owners). I was going to structure the deal on a sliding scale of EBITDA (5X for any B2B recurring work lasting longer than 3 years, 3X on any recurring monthly revenue from homeowners, and 1X on everything else. I love the waste management business model.

Reply by a lender
from University of Missouri in Denver, CO, USA

You can learn a lot about a company like this by just watching the operations firsthand. Regardless, I would check-in on any permits and licenses that are needed for this kind of work. Investigate any past environmental issues or lawsuits. Obviously check the age and maintenance on the equipment. Look at the customer mix. Long-term B2B contracts are the gold standard. Look at the churn rate. This business is difficult to retain good drivers, that is something to think over. Last, I would check route profitability if that data is available.

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