Florida’s Marion County commissioners approve Waste Connections deal

The Board of Marion County Commissioners approved the transfer of Florida Express Environmental LLC to Waste Connections of Florida Inc., a subsidiary of Waste Connections, in a Nov. 4 resolution.

According to its website, Ocala-based Florida Express Environmental has operated a construction and demolition (C&D) landfill, a material recovery facility and a fleet of privately owned environmental service trucks since 2001. The company handles both recycling and waste removal for Alachua County and Marion County.

The firm offers a variety of residential and commercial services, including curbside trash, recycling and yard waste collection; manure removal; bulk pickup, waste container rentals; front-end-load waste removal; commercial recycling; document destruction; and roll-off containers, among others.

The website lists John A. Paglia Jr. as its CEO. Paglia and his brother and Chief Operating Officer Michael D. Paglia have owned and operated recycling, solid and liquid waste companies throughout the southeastern U.S. John Paglia III is listed as the firm’s president, along with Vincent Paglia as the recycling and commodities manager.

Toronto-based Waste Connections has had a busy year on the acquisition front, detailing during its third quarter conference call Oct. 22 that the acquisitions it has closed or that are under definitive agreement total about $300 million in annualized revenue through the third quarter of 2025.

The firm alluded to two deals involving Florida-based companies on the call but did not name either firm. The other is believed to be Miami-based Great Waste as its website now redirects to Waste Connection’s.