Great Forest

What Great Forest does

Great Forest is a privately held, New York-headquartered sustainability consultancy founded in the 1990s that provides end-to-end waste management solutions to large commercial property owners, hospitality operators, universities, manufacturers, and corporate enterprises. Its practice spans three integrated service lines: waste brokerage (negotiating and managing hauling contracts across a nationwide hauler network with consolidated billing and daily oversight), data analytics (waste audits, infrastructure assessments, and standardized diversion metrics delivered via the company's proprietary client portal), and Zero Waste advisory (TRUE Zero Waste certification support, regulatory compliance, stakeholder engagement, and IT Asset Disposition services). The company reports coverage of 100+ million square feet of properties, with 120 million under brokerage and 62 million under Zero Waste consulting, and has completed 176 waste audits diverting 46,000 tons of material from landfill in 2025.

The firm's technical foundation rests on a proprietary Great Forest Portal (a metrics dashboard for tracking weights, volumes, diversion rates, recycling certificates, and bills of lading) and a refined waste characterization methodology developed over 30+ years. Its research asset—the largest commercial waste characterization study to date, analyzing 170,000+ pounds of waste from 114 audits across 100+ buildings in 12 countries—was peer-reviewed and published in the Journal of Solid Waste Technology and Management. A GHG calculator, food waste toolkit (co-developed with Replate), and other educational resources extend the firm's content footprint. The company holds TRUE Zero Waste Gold certification for its own operations.

Great Forest operates a sales-led, enterprise-focused go-to-market targeting Fortune 500 firms in property management, manufacturing, financial services, and education, with case-study evidence spanning multi-site rollouts (15,000 IT server locations retired, hotel portfolio engagements of nearly a decade). Revenue is generated through managed service fees on waste brokerage, professional services fees for consulting and audits, and transaction/asset-resale revenue on ITAD engagements. There is no public pricing; engagements are quote-based. The firm maintains offices in New York and San Francisco, serves clients internationally (including in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Australia), and reports no parent company, institutional investor, or active funding events in available sources.

Name

Great Forest

Legal name

Great Forest

Website

https://greatforest.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Great Forest is a New York-based waste management consultancy that provides waste brokerage, Zero Waste advisory, and data analytics services to Fortune 500 commercial property owners, hotels, universities, manufacturers, and corporate enterprises across 100+ million square feet.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Waste Brokerage and Management Services: Great Forest acts as a waste broker, leveraging its nationwide portfolio of waste haulers to secure better pricing and service terms for clients. Revenue is generated through margins on waste brokerage fees and managed service fees for overseeing waste operations, consolidated billing, and daily oversight across a client's portfolio of waste streams.
2. Zero Waste Consulting and Advisory: Fee-based consulting engagements for waste audits, infrastructure assessments, Zero Waste strategy development, compliance assessments, and TRUE Zero Waste certification support. Services also include stakeholder/tenant engagement programs, educational campaigns, and training.
3. ITAD and E-Waste Processing: Revenue generated through e-waste recycling and IT Asset Disposition services. In some cases, clients receive revenue sharing from the resale of valuable IT assets. For clients whose assets have residual value, removal costs are offset by asset resale value.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Great Forest provides end-to-end commercial waste management and sustainability consulting services. Offerings include waste brokerage across a nationwide hauler network, zero-waste program design and audits, infrastructure assessments, certification support (e.g., TRUE Zero Waste), and IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) services for businesses. A proprietary client portal delivers data analytics, reporting, and diversion tracking to support client sustainability goals.

Product overview

Great Forest is a sustainability and waste management company offering an integrated suite of services centered on waste brokerage, data analytics, and zero waste certification support. The core offering consists of Waste Brokerage Services for managing all waste streams with consolidated billing, Data Analytics powered by the Great Forest Portal for tracking waste metrics and diversion rates, and Zero Waste Services including audits, infrastructure assessments, and certification support. The portfolio also includes specialized offerings such as the Waste Characterization Study (a peer-reviewed research product analyzing commercial building waste), the GHG Calculator for emissions tracking, the Food Waste Toolkit and Organics Recycling Guide as educational resources, a Compliance Guide for regulatory support, and IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) services. All services are backed by 30+ years of experience and a TRUE Zero Waste Gold certification.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Waste Brokerage Services
• Zero Waste Consulting
• Waste Audits and Characterization Studies

Quantifiable outcome

• 176 waste audits performed in 2025
• +11 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Waste ManagementcoreOthers · 25 February 2025Waste Management completed a $7.2 billion acquisition of Stericycle through Q3 2024. The top five publicly traded solid waste companies spent $3.4 billion on mergers and acquisitions through Q3 2024. Great Forest's 2025 Sustainability Trends report references Waste Management as a major industry consolidator in the waste sector.
• StericycleminorOthers · 25 February 2025Referenced in Great Forest's 2025 Sustainability Trends report as part of the $7.2 billion acquisition by Waste Management. Stericycle is a hazardous waste management company whose acquisition by Waste Management represents a significant consolidation in the waste management industry.
• Organix SolutionsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGreat Forest partnered with Organix Solutions to test and evaluate Blue Bag Organics — a compostable bag solution that allows businesses to commingle bagged organic waste with regular waste for separation at transfer stations. This solution addresses NYC businesses with limited space for separate organics pick-ups. The bags are BPI certified compostable and designed to break down in 60 days.
• ReplateminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGreat Forest partnered with Replate (a food rescue organization) to create a food waste toolkit for businesses. Replate's food rescue standards were used to define 'donatable' surplus food in Great Forest's restaurant chain food waste audits. Great Forest refers clients to Replate for food donation pickup services.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Casella Waste Systems: Casella is a vertically integrated solid waste, recycling, and resource management services company serving the Northeast US, overlapping with Great Forest's brokerage and zero waste advisory services for commercial and institutional customers in the region.
• Veolia North America: Veolia provides environmental services including waste management, recycling, and circular economy advisory to commercial and industrial clients, broadly competing with Great Forest's zero waste and circularity advisory services.
• Stericycle: Stericycle provides specialized waste services including hazardous waste management, document destruction, and ITAD, competing with Great Forest's ITAD and hazardous waste advisory services for large enterprise and regulated customers.
• Waste Management, Inc. Waste Management is the largest US waste hauler and a broad incumbent that has expanded into consulting, compliance, and ITAD through its Stericycle acquisition. It competes with Great Forest as a vertically integrated alternative for large commercial accounts.
• Republic Services: Republic Services is a major US solid waste and recycling company that has built sustainability and recycling program capabilities for commercial and municipal customers, overlapping with Great Forest's brokerage and zero waste advisory services.

Regional players

• GreenWaste Recovery: GreenWaste Recovery provides waste collection, recycling, and Zero Waste consulting primarily in California. It competes with Great Forest in hospitality, commercial real estate, and institutional zero waste advisory across the West Coast.

Direct peers

• Rubicon (now Toter/Rubicon Technologies): Rubicon provides waste and recycling technology, hauling, and consulting services to commercial and municipal customers, competing directly with Great Forest's waste brokerage, analytics, and sustainability advisory offerings through a tech-enabled platform.
• Closed Loop Partners: Closed Loop Partners is a circular economy-focused investment and advisory firm that helps businesses design, fund, and implement waste reduction and recycling infrastructure, directly overlapping with Great Forest's zero waste consulting and circularity advisory services.
• Sustainable Waste Solutions (SWS): Sustainable Waste Solutions provides waste management consulting, recycling program design, and sustainability reporting to commercial clients, directly competing with Great Forest in waste audits, zero waste certification, and ESG advisory.

Emerging players

• Watershed: Watershed is an enterprise climate platform that includes waste and material emissions accounting and reporting. While broader in scope, it overlaps with Great Forest's GHG calculator and ESG waste data offerings for enterprise sustainability teams.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/greatforestinc
• Facebookfacebook.com/120786384688279

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Great Forest