Rumpke Consolidated Companies, Inc., ranks among the nation’s largest privately owned waste and recycling companies. The catalyst behind its growth and success over the past 70 years can be summed up in one word: family.

Over 100 Rumpke family members work in various positions throughout the company. As a result of their strong work ethic and respect for the environment, the company has found success and owns or operates nine landfills, seven transfer stations and five recycling centers in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.

Rumpke’s history begins in 1932 when William F. Rumpke operated a coal and junkyard business in Carthage, Ohio. Their business focus soon changed to include a hog farm. They collected trash from local residents and separated the trash. Inedible items were removed and recycled while the rest was fed to the hogs. In the 1940s, Rumpke’s brother, Bernard joined the business and the two of them began making decisions that would impact their family for generations to come. Just a few short years later, the farming business ended, as the company shifted its focus solely to waste collection and disposal.

William and Bernard’s sons, Bill and Tom, were actively involved in the business as well and initiated the company’s commercial container service.  During the 1970s, Bill and Tom bought the residential business from their fathers and have been serving as co-owners and co-presidents since. Throughout the past 30 years, the cousins have expanded the service area and have added several divisions such as Rumpke Recycling, Rumpke Portable Restrooms, Hydraulics Power Works and Iron Works.

Rumpke has experienced many changes since the two brothers began the business.  The number of employees has soared from two to approximately 2,000. And instead of one truck, the company manages a fleet of 1,600 vehicles. Likewise, recycling is part of the family’s tradition. Rumpke opened its first recycling facility, Rumpke Recycling, Inc., in Circleville, Ohio, in 1989. Since then, Rumpke operates five recycling centers in Ohio and Kentucky. Each year, Rumpke’s recycling centers process more than 500 million pounds of recyclables. Three facilities are equipped with single-stream recycling technology, which makes recycling easier for both the customers and the drivers who no longer have to sort materials.

Rumpke’s sound history and constant improvements reinforce the fact that Rumpke is truly a leader in the waste industry. In 2002 alone, Rumpke serviced approximately 431,000 residential subscription customers and an estimated 313 municipal contracts, along with over 53,000 commercial customers and nearly 7,000 industrial customers. With nearly 880 acres of permitted landfill space, Rumpke manages approximately 3.5 million tons of waste demonstrating Rumpke’s extensive experience in landfill management and design.

Because of its corporate spirit, the company has been continuously recognized for its achievements. In the late 1990s, it was named to the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Top 100 list and Bill and Tom Rumpke were honored by the Cincinnati Business Courier as the 1999 Entrepreneurs of the Year. Rumpke’s founders were also inducted into the waste industry’s Hall of Fame while two of the company’s drivers received the 1999 and 2000 Environmental Industry Driver of the Year awards.

Today, Bill Rumpke Sr. acts as the President and CEO of Rumpke Consolidated Companies Inc. as the late Thomas Rumpke passed away in 2004.  With the family's leadership, the story is just beginning.