________________________________________________________________________________________________ Waste
Pro USA
llection
Committed to caring for both the environment and the people it serves, Waste Pro USA( Waste Pro) was founded to transform the waste and recycling industry into a value-driven service. By consistently prioritizing personal service, face-to-face contact, and locally sourced vendors, Waste Pro has grown from humble beginnings with just one truck to a leading operator from more than 100 locations across 12 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.
Waste Pro’ s vision, to offer a distinguishable difference in the industry, has remained at the heart of the business throughout changing market dynamics and demand for sustainable solutions. To learn more about the business, firstly its history, we sit down with Senior Vice President and COO, Keith Banasiak.
“ Waste Pro was initially founded by John Jennings, a first generation American whose father emigrated from Ireland and pursued a career as a garbage collector,” Keith opens.“ John initially took a different route, gaining a college degree and working on Wall Street before realizing he wanted something different. He traveled to Florida in 1973 and quickly fell in love with the state. While he was there, he met one of his father’ s former colleagues, who was managing a struggling garbage business: Pete’ s Garbage Services. They shared experiences and John later purchased the business and began operating it with one truck.
“ Over the next 20 years, John built his presence in the central Florida market, rebranding to Jennings Environmental Service in 1992. The company became a first-tier subsidiary of USA Waste Services in Florida in 1996 before being acquired by USA Waste and then becoming Waste Management, at which point John decided to leave the business.
“ Around the year 2000, John was receiving several calls from former colleagues and Florida residents complaining about the level of service in the garbage sector,” he narrates.“ John was hesitant, but on a university visit to Georgia with his daughter, he saw a Waste Pro vehicle and decided to return to the industry, later purchasing that company and operating our first location in Athens, Georgia.
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