Exhibit 99.1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


CASELLA WASTE SYSTEMS AND KTI REVISE TERMS OF MERGER AGREEMENT

TRANSACTION REMAINS ACCRETIVE, WILL CLOSE DURING SUMMER 1999

     RUTLAND, VERMONT (May 13, 1999)--Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CWST)
and KTI, Inc.  (Nasdaq:  KTIE; KTIEE) today announced that they have revised the
terms of their merger agreement.

     Under the terms of the revised  merger  agreement,  KTI  shareholders  will
receive  0.59  shares of Casella  Waste  Systems'  stock for every  share of KTI
stock.  The boards of  directors  of both  companies  have  approved the revised
merger  agreement;  the  closing of the merger is  contingent  upon  shareholder
approval from both companies.

     "We've always  strongly  believed in the core  strategic  rationale for the
transaction,"  John  Casella,  chairman and chief  executive  officer of Casella
Waste Systems,  said. "The revised terms of the merger agreement should allow us
to reaffirm  the level of  confidence  this  immediately  accretive  transaction
delivers--both  in terms of the necessary  financial  performance  and growth in
shareholder value."

     "Casella  Waste  Systems'  focused  strategy  and  disciplined   operations
combined  with  KTI's  assets,   particularly  our  disposal  facilities,   will
strengthen the merged  company's  position as a leading  provider of solid waste
services in the Northeast," Ross Pirasteh,  chairman of KTI, said. "In addition,
the transaction will provide the company with highly attractive, enhanced growth
opportunities over the next three to five years."

     After the merger,  Casella will have an 11-member  board of  directors--six
from Casella and five from KTI.

     For the fiscal year ending April 30, 2000,  Casella Waste Systems  projects
that, as a result of the merger,  company  revenues will be  approximately  $530
million; earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA)
will be approximately $135 million; and earnings per share (EPS) will be $1.30.

     Casella Waste Systems,  headquartered in Rutland,  Vermont,  is a regional,
integrated, non-hazardous solid waste services company that provides collection,
transfer,  disposal and recycling  services in Vermont,  New  Hampshire,  Maine,
northern Massachusetts, upstate New York, and northern Pennsylvania.




     The company's principal operations consist of five Subtitle D landfills and
one permitted construction and demolition debris landfill, 46 transfer stations,
13 recycling  processing  facilities,  and 34 collection  operations which serve
over 220,000 commercial, municipal and residential customers.

     KTI is an integrated  value-added  processor in the solid waste  management
industry.  The company  operates 51  facilities  in 21 states and Canada in four
operating  divisions:   waste-to-energy,   commercial   recycling,   residential
recycling, and finished products.

     For further information, contact Joseph Fusco, Vice President; Jerry Cifor,
Sr. Vice President and Chief Financial  Officer at (802) 775-0325;  or visit the
company's website at www.casella.com.

     This press  release,  especially  with respect to the  consummation  of the
merger and its financial and operational impact and projected financial results,
contains  forward-looking   statements  that  involve  a  number  of  risks  and
uncertainties.  Among the important  factors that could cause actual  results to
differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking  statements are a
substantial  delay in the  expected  closing of the  transaction,  the  combined
company's  ability to  realize  expected  synergies  from the  transaction,  the
ability to  successfully  integrate  the two  companies  and otherwise to manage
growth,  a history of losses,  the ability to  identify,  acquire and  integrate
acquisition targets,  dependence on management, the uncertain ability to finance
the  company's  growth,  limitations  on landfill  permitting  and expansion and
geographic  concentration,  a general economic downturn,  changes in the law and
regulations  relating  to the  environment,  competition,  and the risk  factors
detailed from time to time in Casella Waste Systems' and KTI's periodic  reports
and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.