Waste Management Inc. has purchased a paper recycling firm.

The Houston-based company bought Chicago-based Recycling Services Inc. for an undisclosed amount, says Bill Plunkett, spokesman for Waste Management, in an interview. The deal was completed in December but not widely publicized.

Recycling Services is the largest paper recycling firm in Illinois and serves some of the Midwest’s biggest office and property managers. The company specializes in high-grade office paper and old corrugated cardboard recycling, and also does document destruction and provides recycling brokerage services. The company has the one facility in Chicago and employs 55.

For Waste Management the purchase represented an opportunity to strengthen its capabilities for paper recycling in the Midwest, Plunkett says.