War for medical waste brews.(Markets)

Crain's Chicago Business, April, 2005

Byline: BRETT CHASE Stericycle Inc., the country's biggest medical waste collector, is facing a new, head-on threat from garbage industry giant Waste Management Inc. Having sold most of its medical waste business to Stericycle in 1996, Waste Management is now getting back into the game-a move that will likely put pricing pressure on Lake Forest-based Stericycle.

Waste Management is "a very big company with deep pockets,'' and medical waste could add as much as $200 million to its annual sales within three years, says Friedman Billings Ramsey & Co. analyst Michael E. Hoffman. That's not a huge gain for Waste Management, which had $12.52 billion in 2004 revenue, but it could be a big deal for much smaller Stericycle. It posted sales last year of $516.2...

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