About Us

Rumpke Consolidated Companies, Inc., ranks among the nation’s largest privately owned waste and recycling companies. The catalyst behind its growth and success for more than 75 years can be summed up in one word: family.

More than 50 Rumpke family members work in various positions throughout the company. With a strong work ethic and respect for the environment, the company has found success and owns or operates nine landfills, several transfer stations and eight recycling centers in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.

Rumpke’s history began 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. A few years later, the farming business ended, as the company shifted its focus solely to waste collection, recycling 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 served as co-owners and co-presidents until Tom passed away in January 2004.

During the past 30 years, the Rumpke family successfully expanded its service area and added several divisions such as Rumpke Recycling, Rumpke Portable Restrooms, Rumpke Hydraulics, The William-Thomas Group and Rumpke Ballpark.

Rumpke has continued to progress since the two brothers founded the business. The number of employees has soared from two to approximately 2,000. Instead of one truck, the company manages a fleet of 1,600 vehicles. Likewise, recycling has become an important part of the family tradition. Rumpke opened its first recycling facility in Circleville, Ohio, in 1989. Since then, Rumpke Recycling has grown to operate eight recycling centers in Ohio and Kentucky. Each year, Rumpke Recycling's 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.

Due to 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. In 2009, Bill and Tom joined their fathers as members of Environmental Industry Association's Hall of Fame.

With the family's leadership, the story is just beginning.