Casella named legacy enterprise by University of Vermont

Casella Waste Systems Inc. has been named the winner of the Vermont Legacy Enterprise Award by the University of Vermont’s (UVM’s) Grossman School of Business at its 12^th Annual Vermont Legacy and Family Enterprise Awards ceremony on Sept. 29.

What began in 1975 as a single truck waste collection company has grown to become one of the largest recyclers and fully integrated resource management companies in the eastern United States. Today, Casella employs over 4,200 people providing solid waste collection and disposal, transfer, recycling and organics services to more than one million residential, commercial, municipal, institutional and industrial customers and professional resource management services in more than 40 states.

“We’re honored to receive this award, and to be recognized for our efforts in creating and nurturing a business committed to sustainability, innovation, and excellence,” says John W. Casella, Chairman and CEO of Casella. “To be recognized alongside three other deserving businesses, in front of future business leaders at our state’s leading University, by a customer of more than 30 years was a wonderful moment in our nearly 50-year history.”

Enterprises are nominated across four categories, and judged on the financial success of the company, governance of the enterprise, contributions to the community and industry and innovative business practices or strategies.

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Casella was recognized for its innovation and sustained excellence in the sustainability space and as one of the first companies in its industry to report greenhouse gas emissions reductions.

In 2005, Casella joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Climate Leaders as a charter member, and in 2012 was awarded the EPA’s Climate Leadership Award for Excellence in Greenhouse Gas Emissions after reducing its carbon footprint by more than 45 percent. Now, for every metric ton of greenhouse gas emitted through its operations, Casella prevents more than four metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions through the company’s recycling, energy and carbon sequestration services.

For more than 30 years, UVM has been a customer and collaborative partner of Casella’s, providing dozens of alumni with internships and employment, working together on research to help improve the environment and the resource management industry and utilizing Casella’s services to achieve collective sustainability goals.

“Part of what makes this recognition so special is that it comes from a true partner, and while it is our company that received the award, it has been a collaboration all along the way,” John W. Casella says. “We’ve celebrated each other’s successes, and worked through each other’s challenges, and that makes receiving an award like this even more gratifying.”