REPUBLIC SERVICES INC
RSG
Industrials
3
exclusion reasons
3 themes
This page is part of our public exclusion list — a transparency tool that shows which companies we screen out and why. It is not investment advice, and it is not an accusation. But it is subject to change as our understanding of the facts evolves.
Republic Services faces six NLRB unfair labor practice charges from Teamsters including retaliatory firings, refusing union representatives on-site, and failing to provide representation during disciplinary proceedings. In 2025, over 2,000 Teamsters went on strike or honored picket lines citing illegal union-busting tactics and bad faith bargaining. The company has slow-walked negotiations with 286 represented employees near its Phoenix HQ. Multiple workers report retaliatory terminations for union activity.
Republic Services has accumulated $177.4 million in penalties across 285 violation records documented by ViolationTracker since 2000. The pattern spans Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and hazardous waste violations at landfill operations nationwide.
In March 2026, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued a $3 million fine — the largest in DEQ history — against Republic's Coffin Butte Landfill for violations dating to 2021, including failure to properly monitor methane emissions, inadequate landfill cover maintenance, and submission of inaccurate emissions reports. In Pennsylvania, a federal court held Republic's Modern Landfill liable for 419 Clean Water Act violations between July 2019 and April 2023 for repeatedly exceeding permit limits for boron and osmotic pressure. In New York, Republic paid $671,000 and installed gas collection controls at its Pine Avenue Landfill in Niagara Falls. The California Air Resources Board reached a $211,250 settlement in 2022 for air quality violations across Republic's truck fleet. The breadth — Oregon, Pennsylvania, New York, California — and the consistency of the violation types indicate a systemic compliance gap, not isolated incidents.
Republic Services, Inc. agreed to pay nearly $3 million to settle an EEOC lawsuit alleging it discriminated against 21 employees over 40 years old and engaged in a form of hazing called 'break him off' where employees were worked to the point of exhaustion.
Research Sources
6 organizations
Related Exclusions
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Companies appear on our exclusion list based on our investment judgment — not because they've done anything illegal. This is a difference of values and opinion, not an accusation of wrongdoing. Exclusion does not constitute a recommendation against investing in any company, and absence from the list does not constitute a recommendation to invest.
This information is provided for educational and transparency purposes only and should not be relied upon as investment advice. Data is drawn from independent watchdogs, NGOs, government registries, and Ethical Capital's ongoing research — see Research Sources for the full list.
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