Waste Management, Tailwater Capital form joint venture

Waste Management Organic Growth, a wholly owned subsidiary of Houston-based Waste Management (WM) and Tailwater Capital, a private equity firm based in Dallas, has announced a joint venture to provide financial, commercial and operational support to Continuus Materials, a Houston-based manufacturer of roof cover boards. The venture aims to assist the company with scaling production facilities within the waste-to-product industry. The financial terms of the joint venture were not disclosed.

According to a joint news release from Waste Management Organic Growth and Tailwater Capital, Continuus Materials develops and operates manufacturing facilities that upcycle plastic and fiber materials from municipal solid waste into Everboard, a proprietary, high-performance, low-slope roof coverboard. Continuus Materials says its process reduces landfill waste and generates significantly lower life cycle greenhouse gas emissions than competing products made from traditional materials.

“At WM, we are unlocking impactful, sustainable solutions as we move toward a more circular economy, and the Continuus Materials business is one example of what we’re aiming to achieve,” says Jim Fish, president and CEO of WM. “Continuus Materials brings an innovative solution that recovers recyclable materials in addition to materials that cannot otherwise be recycled and gives them a new, purposeful life. We look forward to working together with Tailwater Capital to grow the Continuus Materials business while achieving a shared goal of reducing waste.”

The joint venture enables Continuus Materials to develop additional facilities at WM sites and launch its first full-scale municipal solid waste-to-Everboard production plant. Once fully operational, the plant is expected to produce more than 150 million square feet of Everboard annually within the first three years of operation. Continuus Materials currently supplies Everboard to a range of commercial customers, including large national retail chains, industrial manufacturing facilities and distribution centers.

“We are pleased to join together with WM and the Continuus Materials team to support a visionary business that is committed to extracting valuable new products from existing waste streams,” says Edward Herring, co-founder and managing partner of Tailwater Capital. “This joint venture is an extension of Tailwater’s long track record and continued focus on identifying opportunities to implement sustainable solutions across the recycling and byproduct supply chain.”