Hartford Business Journal

4 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JANUARY 13, 2025 Deal Watch USA Waste & Recycling's Director of Operations Jonathan Murray (left) and Chief Operating Officer Frank Antonacci at the company's Berlin recycling facility, which has undergone $50 million in upgrades in recent years, significantly improving its efficiency. HBJ PHOTOS | MICHAEL PUFFER Elbow Room Waste stream innovator USA Waste & Recycling spends $14.5M on property for expansion/evolution erty lines and rights of way were somewhat jumbled, and USA Waste's Hartford acquisitions eliminate the risk of interruption, Antonacci said. "If we did not secure these prop- erties, it would have disrupted our ongoing operations," Antonacci said. "So, it's going to allow us to continue to operate the way we have, and, I think, also appreciate some efficiencies." The 9.8-acre site in Watertown hosts a 7,108-square-foot transfer station, three canopied trailer loading stations and a weighing station. It's also near one of USA Waste's garbage and recycling truck dispatch centers and depots in Watertown, and reasonably close to a transfer station in Waterbury. At the very least, the Watertown purchase allows for redundancy if the existing Watertown or Waterbury facilities go offline due to an environ- mental hazard or extreme weather. Antonacci said his company tries to create backup capacity for all its facilities, ensuring smooth opera- tions. He also said the company is contemplating reviving the closed Trash Museum, which operated at 211 Murphy Road until 2016. "We believe as a family, as a company, that education around recy- cling and sustainability and materials management is a really important piece of what we do," Antonacci said. "We're very proud of where the state of Connecticut is at already in those fields. We have a good story to tell, and I think reviving the trash museum By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com A bout a decade ago, Enfield- based USA Waste & Recy- cling passed on a chance to buy an industrial property next to its Berlin recycling plant. The company saw no need for extra space at the time. "We said 10 years ago: 'What are we going to do with it?'" recalled Frank Antonacci, chief operating officer of USA Waste & Recycling, which provides waste and recycling services for residential and commer- cial customers in Connecticut and Massachusetts. USA Waste's Berlin facility is tightly packed onto a 6.6-acre lot on Chris- tian Lane. Buying the extra real estate would have made it easier — and more cost-effective — to design a major expansion that was completed in 2022, Antonacci said. It was a mistake the company didn't want to make again. So, USA Waste late last year spent $14.5 million buying three proper- ties — one in Watertown and two in Hartford — from an entity working to dissolve the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority (MIRA). The defunct quasi-public agency had provided single-stream recycling and trash disposal for Connecticut cities and towns. There are no detailed plans yet for the sites. But they are in proximity, Antonacci said, to other USA Waste operations, and can easily serve short-term uses. They also offer space for future expansion, and can act as backup facilities. "It's an opportunity you just have to take a hard, long look at, even if we are still evaluating what's the uses for us on these sites," Antonacci said. "You only have so many opportunities to acquire these sites that are right in your footprint. So, I think for us, we wanted to take advantage of that situation." The new assets The newly acquired properties include 171 and 211 Murphy Road in Hartford, adjacent sites with a combined 8.5 acres. The properties host a 92,616-square-foot industrial building that is fully equipped and permitted as a single- and dual-stream recycling facility; and a one-story, 19,200-square-foot industrial building. Antonacci said the Hartford properties are nestled among existing USA Waste operations, including solid waste and recycling transfer stations and a rail station, as well as a compressed natural gas fueling facility used by the company and city of Hartford trucks. One of the Hartford properties hosts a scale that served MIRA and USA Waste's operations. The prop- AT A GLANCE USA Waste & Recycling Industry: Trash and recycling Top Executive: Frank M. Antonacci, Chief Operating Officer HQ: 555 Taylor Road, Enfield Employees: About 900 Website: www.usarecycle.com Contact: 860-746-3200

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