Bill Gates' stake in the $29 billion waste business has been linked to thousands of methane violations in US landfills.
A new investigation by ProPublica has found that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates owns 38% of Republic Services, the second-largest review site operator in the United States. His stake is worth about $29 billion, and dividends since 1999 have reached $2.6 billion, while the shares have grown roughly 30 times.
The main problem in landfills is the powerful greenhouse gas methane that is released from organic waste. Since 2020, EPA inspectors have inspected at least 39 of the Republic's landfill sites and identified more than 1,400 problem sites with excess methane emissions, according to ProPublica. In some cases the concentration increased 100-300 times the standard. In addition, satellite studies showed significant gaps between actual emissions and the company's reporting. For example, at the Indiana test site alone they differed by a factor of 13.
In 2019, Republica became the first US company to join the Science-Based Targets Initiative and committed to reducing emissions by 35% by 2030. But after the initiative rules tightened, the company did not adopt a more ambitious goal. According to the investigation, industry groups, including the Republic's top officials, also opposed stricter methane controls and measures to divert organic materials from landfills.
The investigation does not answer the direct question of whether Gates knew about problems at the facilities. However, it is not at all clear why the biggest investment of a billionaire with a penchant for climate change remains in a business that depends on landfill.