Richard S. Burns expands TommyCart System in Chicago and Texas cities

Philadelphia-based recycling and waste solutions company Richard S. Burns & Co. Inc. (Burns) is moving forward with the multimarket expansion of its TommyCart System into the cities of Chicago, San Antonio, Houston and Austin.

Burns is leasing the TommyCart units to local service providers and contractors within these new markets, according to a representative for the company, with the collected materials being processed locally through existing, approved facilities in each market.

Burns typically launches in a new city by leasing an initial fleet of approximately 150 TommyCarts, scaling up incrementally based on demand.

Philadelphia remains the only market where Burns deploys the carts on jobsites and manages the full waste collection and processing in-house, the company representative adds. 

Designed to replace traditional commercial collection containers, Burns describes its TommyCart System as a highly maneuverable jobsite debris collection solution. In the past year, Burns says TommyCart has experienced 25 percent growth, with more than 5,000 carts currently in service. The company projects 2026 revenue for Tommy Cart to reach $4 million as the system expands into additional metropolitan markets. 

“Based on our own experience here in Philadelphia, we noticed in the marketplace that contractors here and in major cities face real challenges: limited space, strict safety requirements and pressure to operate cleaner and more efficiently,” Burns President Allen Burns says.

“TommyCart is built for exactly these environments. We experienced these challenges ourselves, so I understand their needs. I designed and created this system from the ground up. Expanding into Chicago, San Antonio, Houston and Austin allows us to bring a smarter, more sustainable waste-handling solution to some of the fastest-growing construction markets in the country.”  

According to Burns, early data show a 20-30 percent increase in recovery rates with the TommyCart System versus traditional material recovery facilities, a 30 percent reduction in contamination rate and 15-18 percent reduced hauling emissions using box trucks versus traditional roll-off trucks across projects using TommyCarts.  

The multicity rollout aims to lay the foundation for the system’s broader national expansion as Burns evaluates additional markets for 2026-2027.

“In every new market we enter, the feedback is the same. Contractors are tired of the limitations of traditional dumpsters,” Burns says. “TommyCart gives them a faster, cleaner, more responsible option, and our expansion positions us to support thousands of new projects in 2026 and beyond.”