Richard S. Burns & Company

What Richard S. Burns & Company does

Richard S. Burns & Company, Inc. is a Philadelphia-based, privately held construction and demolition (C&D) waste recycling and materials recovery company serving the Greater Philadelphia and Delaware Valley region. Originally founded as a one-person cleanout business in the 1960s, the company has grown to a 60+ person professional team and operates what it describes as Philadelphia's only fully permitted and LEED-staffed materials and waste recycling facility, anchored by a 13-acre recovery compound at 4400 Rising Sun Avenue with stated capacity of more than 1,500 tons of waste and materials per day. The business serves commercial and residential customers, with construction and demolition contractors as the primary segment, and reports an overall facility recovery rate of 85–95%.

The company's core product set comprises (i) roll-off dumpster rental in 15, 20, and 30 cubic yard sizes, (ii) its proprietary Tommy Cart® compact debris collection system — a maneuverable, seam-welded cart with a floor lock designed for dense urban job sites, holding a registered trademark and currently deployed at over 5,000 construction sites, (iii) a materials recovery facility accepting clean concrete ($80/ton), clean plasterboard, clean wood, C&D waste ($120/ton), and mattresses ($200/ton), (iv) LEED Project Material Recovery Reports authored by two on-staff LEED Accredited Professionals, and (v) an Armstrong World Industries ceiling tile recycling program operated as a local consolidator.

Commercially, Burns generates revenue through per-ton tipping fees at its facility, per-rental dumpster fees scaled to size and project duration, and TOMMYcart transaction-based fees. The company sells via a sales-led motion combining direct website quoting (with zip-code serviceability gating), phone-based customer service, and an online account portal that supports a Pre-Pay Discount Program offering 5–10% tipping discounts in exchange for auto-recharge commitments. Distribution is regional, executed through an internal fleet of trucks, supplemented by a North10 Philadelphia voucher program (funded by the William Penn Foundation) that addresses illegal dumping in North Philadelphia. As of 2026, the company is executing a national rollout of the TOMMYcart System into Chicago, San Antonio, Houston, and Austin, with companywide 2026 revenue projected to exceed $25 million (including approximately $4 million from TOMMYcart).

Name

Richard S. Burns & Company

Legal name

Richard S. Burns & Company, Inc.

Website

https://burnscompany.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1960

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Richard S. Burns & Company is a privately held Philadelphia-based construction and demolition waste recycling and materials recovery facility serving contractors, commercial customers, and residents in the Greater Philadelphia and Delaware Valley region, with a national TOMMYcart® rollout underway.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Construction & Demolition Waste Recycling

NAICS

Solid Waste Collection (562111), Materials Recovery Facilities (56292), Waste Collection (5621)

SIC

Refuse Systems (4953)

akta.pro primary industry

Construction & Demolition (C&D) Debris Transfer Stations (BPALABAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Roll-off Dumpster Rental & On-site Container Services (BPALAJAJ), Construction & Demolition (C&D) Debris Transfer & Processing (EUAIABAB), Concrete, Asphalt & Masonry Recycling (Crushing & Aggregate Production) (EUAIAHAD)

Keywords

• Construction waste recycling
• Roll-off dumpster rental
• Materials recovery facility
• Demolition debris removal
• LEED material recovery

Headquarters

HQ city

Philadelphia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Tipping / Tipping Fees: Fees charged for accepting and processing waste and materials at the company's materials recovery facility. Customers bring materials directly or have them collected via dumpster service.
2. Dumpster Rental Service: Rental of roll-off dumpsters in 15, 20, and 30 cubic yard sizes delivered to job sites. Fees are based on dumpster size, waste type, and project duration. Account customers can enroll in a Pre-Pay Discount Program for reduced tipping rates.
3. TOMMYcart System: The company's proprietary compact debris cart system deployed at construction job sites. Projected to generate $4 million in revenue in 2026 as part of the national expansion.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Richard S. Burns & Company operates a construction and demolition waste recycling and recovery facility serving the Philadelphia region. The company rents roll-off dumpsters in 15-, 20-, and 30-yard sizes, accepts self-hauled debris at its materials recovery facility, and processes incoming material into reusable commodities. It also provides LEED project documentation for sustainable construction sites.

Product overview

Richard S. Burns & Company operates as a waste recycling and recovery facility offering a portfolio of interconnected services. The core offerings include roll-off dumpster rental (15, 20, 30 yard sizes) for construction and demolition projects, Tommy Carts (compact debris collection carts) for urban job sites, and a materials recovery facility processing concrete, wood, plasterboard, C&D waste, and mattresses. The company supplements these with LEED Project Material Recovery Reports (add-on documentation for green building certification) and an Armstrong Ceiling Tile Recycling Program partnership. A Pre-Pay Discount Program provides pricing incentives for account customers. The company operates two LEED APs on staff and maintains a 7-10 acre recovery compound capable of handling over 1,500 tons per day.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Tommy Cart: Compact debris collection solution for construction job sites. A maneuverable cart designed for dense urban construction environments with floor lock to prevent movement during loading and seam-welded construction to preempt leakages. Available through the burnscompany.net website and tommycarts.biz domain.

Products and services

• Roll-Off Dumpster Rental
• Tommy Carts
• Materials Recovery Facility Drop-Off
• LEED Material Recovery Documentation
• Armstrong Ceiling Tile Recycling

Quantifiable outcome

• 85-95% overall facility recovery rate
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• North10coreGTM or Marketing PartnerNorth10 is a North Philadelphia nonprofit that partnered with Richard S. Burns & Company on the 'Talks Trash' initiative to combat illegal dumping in the Hunting Park–East Tioga area. Burns provides waste disposal services funded by vouchers paid for by the William Penn Foundation grant. The program includes deterrence, education, and incentives to reduce illegal dumping at five hotspots.
• Armstrong World IndustriescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBurns developed a ceiling tile recycling program in partnership with Armstrong World Industries. Customers can arrange ceiling tile disposal and recycling directly through Armstrong by calling the Armstrong Recycling Center at 1-877-276-7876. Burns serves as a local consolidator and accepting facility for Armstrong's ceiling tile recycling program, simplifying the disposal and recycling process for construction projects.
• The Battery NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Construction & Demolition Recycling Association (CDRA) announced plans for a partnership with The Battery Network to establish safe battery disposal infrastructure as part of a broader industry initiative to address lithium-ion battery fire risks. Burns is an active member of CDRA and participates in these initiatives.
• Construction & Demolition Recycling Association (CDRA)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerBurns is an active member of the Construction & Demolition Recycling Association. The company participated in a CDRA-organized June 30 meeting with four major recycling associations to address lithium-ion battery fire risks. The CDRA logo appears on Burns' website as a partner logo.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Republic Services: One of the two largest US waste and recycling haulers with national C&D collection, transfer, and landfill operations. Directly comparable to Burns on roll-off dumpster rental and C&D recycling, though it operates at vastly greater scale and as a broad-line waste services incumbent rather than a LEED-focused regional specialist.
• Waste Management, Inc. Largest US waste and environmental services company with national roll-off, recycling, and LEED-style sustainability reporting. Comparable to Burns across dumpster rental, C&D recycling, and LEED documentation, but as a full-portfolio national operator rather than a regionally concentrated permitted MRF.
• GFL Environmental: North American diversified environmental services company with solid waste, recycling, and C&D infrastructure. Comparable to Burns on C&D collection and materials recovery, but operates as a continental-scale platform with significant M&A and capital-markets activity.
• Clean Earth (Stericycle): Specialty waste and recycling business within Stericycle handling contaminated soils, construction debris, and LEED-eligible diversion streams. Overlaps with Burns on C&D debris handling and diversion documentation, though Clean Earth is structured around hazardous/specialty waste rather than urban roll-off.

Direct peers

• Casella Waste Systems: Regional Northeast US waste hauler with substantial recycling and C&D operations across multiple states. Most directly comparable to Burns on regional roll-off service, materials recovery facility footprint, and sustainability/LEED-style reporting emphasis; like Burns it operates a vertically integrated collection + MRF model.

Regional players

• Sierra Waste Group: Privately held California-based roll-off and C&D recycling operator. Comparable business model to Burns (roll-off + MRF + LEED-style reporting for contractors), but serves the West Coast rather than the Northeast.
• Caglia Environmental: Privately held Central California waste hauler operating roll-off, recycling, and LEED Material Recovery services. Highly comparable operating model to Burns (roll-off + MRF + LEED reports for C&D contractors) but serves a different West Coast geography.

Emerging players

• Community Waste & Recycling (CWD): Privately held mid-Atlantic roll-off and C&D recycling operator overlapping with Burns' Philadelphia-area service territory. Directly comparable in product offering (roll-off dumpster rental, MRF services for contractors), though smaller in scale and brand.

Others

• Armstrong World Industries: Manufacturer partner that funnels ceiling-tile recycling volume to Burns' MRF through a national program. Not a direct competitor, but a key commercial counterparty whose closed-loop recycling economics are increasingly relevant to how Burns monetizes specialty C&D streams.
• Construction & Demolition Recycling Association (CDRA): Industry association of which Burns is an active member, convening recyclers, haulers, and manufacturers on C&D best practices. Relevant as an ecosystem participant — not a competitor — but materially shapes regulatory and battery-fire-safety standards Burns must comply with.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/burns_company
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php?id=100088318451768
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/burnscompany
• Instagraminstagram.com/richardsburnsco

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Richard S. Burns & Company