3.4× The typical waste management or recycling company for sale in the US asks 3.4 times its yearly cash flow.
We read 142 waste management and recycling companies listed for sale on a major online marketplace and compared each asking price with the cash flow its seller reported.
The findings in eight sentences.
- The middle half of waste management and recycling companies ask between 2.0 and 4.7 times their yearly cash flow.
- Waste management and recycling companies ask more than the typical business for sale, which asks 2.6 times.
- The typical asking price for a waste management or recycling company is $400,000.
- Measured against revenue, the typical waste management or recycling company asks 0.9 times its yearly sales.
- 34% of waste management and recycling companies for sale offer seller financing, against 22% overall.
- 34% of owners who say why they're selling are retiring.
- 12% of waste management and recycling companies for sale show no revenue, cash flow or EBITDA, against 18% overall.
- 15% of the waste management and recycling companies for sale are listed in Florida, 11% in Texas and 7% in California.
Of the business service industries, waste management and recycling companies ask more than most.
IT and software services firms ask the most, 3.6 times their yearly cash flow, and vending machine routes the least, 2.2 times.
- IT and software services firms: median 3.6×, middle half from 2.7× to 4.7×
- Equipment rental businesses: median 3.5×, middle half from 2.5× to 4.9×
- Waste management and recycling companies: median 3.4×, middle half from 2.0× to 4.7×
- Marketing and advertising agencies: median 3.1×, middle half from 2.5× to 3.8×
- Architecture and engineering firms: median 3.0×, middle half from 2.2× to 4.0×
- Websites and ecommerce businesses: median 2.9×, middle half from 2.0× to 3.7×
- Insurance agencies: median 2.8×, middle half from 2.0× to 3.6×
- Print shops and promotional products businesses: median 2.6×, middle half from 2.2× to 3.3×
- Accounting, tax and law practices: median 2.5×, middle half from 1.9× to 3.2×
- Vending machine routes: median 2.2×, middle half from 1.4× to 3.1×
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39% of waste management and recycling companies ask between two and four times their yearly cash flow.
36% ask more than four, and 25% less than two.
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What a waste management or recycling company like yours would ask.
The middle half of similar listings ask
$289,000 to $702,000
The typical one asks $418,000, 2.4× its yearly cash flow.
Based on waste management and recycling companies with $100k to $250k of yearly cash flow. These are asking prices, not sale prices or appraisals.
After the close.
We write the software a newly bought business runs on, one process at a time, such as quoting, scheduling or billing, and the new owner keeps the code. How we work with buyers and operating partners.
The data.
We read the listings on September 24, 2026, and their full details from September 25 to 30, 2026.
Questions
What multiple of cash flow do waste management and recycling companies sell for?
Waste management and recycling companies listed for sale in the US ask a median 3.4 times their yearly cash flow (seller's discretionary earnings), and the middle half ask between 2.0 and 4.7 times. Sale prices usually come in lower.
How much does it cost to buy a waste management or recycling company?
The typical waste management or recycling company for sale asks $400,000, and the middle half ask between $290,000 and $986,000. Sale prices usually come in lower.
How many waste management and recycling companies for sale offer seller financing?
34% of waste management and recycling companies for sale offer seller financing, against 22% overall.
What multiple of revenue do waste management and recycling companies ask?
The typical waste management or recycling company for sale asks 0.9 times its yearly sales, and the middle half ask between 0.6 and 1.5 times.
Why are waste management and recycling companies for sale?
34% of owners who give a reason are retiring. 30% are moving on to other businesses or interests, and 17% are relocating.
How we did it
We read every listing on a major US online marketplace for businesses for sale on September 24, 2026, and went back to each one from September 25 to 30, 2026 for its full details. This page covers the 142 established waste management and recycling companies among them. 83 show both an asking price and a cash flow, and 76 of those are left after the exclusions below.
Older listings use a flat list of named categories, and newer ones a two-level list whose subcategories have no names. A listing without its own photo shows its category's default photo. Each default photo almost always shows up in a single newer subcategory, so each named category joins the subcategory where its photo appears.
A multiple is the asking price divided by the seller's discretionary earnings the listing reports. We left out multiples below 0.3 or above 20, and listings whose price includes the property. Prices and cash flows on this page come from the listings with a multiple. These are asking prices, and a business usually sells for less than it asks. The full method.
Cite this page
Fulkerson Advisors (2026). What waste management and recycling companies for sale ask. From What Small Businesses for Sale Ask: 39,587 US Listings, September 2026. https://www.fulkersonadvisors.com/research/small-business-multiples/waste-management-recycling
Use any of these numbers or charts. Credit Fulkerson Advisors and link to this page. The data is under a CC BY 4.0 license.