Houston-based Waste Resource Management (WRM) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the majority of DAR PRO Solutions' trap grease collection and processing business. DAR PRO is the Darling Ingredients subsidiary that actually runs the trucks and pumps the traps. It had been one of the most recognizable names servicing restaurants across the country.
WRM announced the deal Tuesday morning. Terms weren't disclosed.
For anyone who's only loosely tracked WRM, this is a real jump in scale. The company currently operates in Texas, Florida, Nevada, and Colorado, running grease trap and liquid waste service through three brands, Southwaste Disposal, McDonald Farms Enterprises, and Silver City Processing, with a little over 300 employees and more than 6,000 commercial clients on the books. Picking up the majority of DAR PRO's trap grease assets adds 13 U.S. metro markets to that footprint in one transaction.
What the announcement does not spell out is how many DAR PRO customers come along for the ride. Trap grease books tend to be sticky. Long-tenured restaurant accounts on regular service intervals, but the press release stays quiet on client counts, route density, and which specific metros are changing hands. We'll be watching for that detail in the closing announcement.
CEO Ryan Wurgler framed the deal as a vertical-integration play, calling out "numerous new opportunities for organic and inorganic growth" and crediting Ridgewood Infrastructure, WRM's financial sponsor, for backing the transaction. Translation for the rest of us: expect more bolt-on acquisitions out of WRM, not fewer.
It's also worth noting what Darling is letting go of. Trap grease, the brown grease pulled out of restaurant grease interceptors, is feedstock for renewable diesel, and Darling's Diamond Green Diesel joint venture has been one of the biggest buyers of low-CI feedstock in the country. The parent isn't exiting feedstock; it's exiting the truck-and-pump piece in these markets and presumably keeping the downstream relationships that matter to it.
Why this matters for our industry: Collectors and haulers in the affected 13 metros will be watching contract terms, route handoffs, and pricing closely. As both competitors and as potential acquisition targets themselves. Brokers and processors should expect a more concentrated WRM on the supply side, with Ridgewood Capital behind it.
