The recent end of annual earnings report season capped off another very busy year for the U.S. solid waste industry's publicly-traded companies. While ongoing recycling volatility was an ever-present factor, that portion of their business has always been smaller, and the overall business of collection and disposal remains highly lucrative (see chart below).
Waste Dive has been tracking it all quarter by quarter, highlighting details that may not make it into the press releases, and following key trends along the way. Below, you'll find 2018 overview analysis and a breakdown of our coverage for all six publicly-traded companies we follow.
2018 in Review
Recycling may have been a headwind for the industry's five vertically-integrated service providers, but overall business is doing just fine.
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Waste Management
CFO Devina Rankin has said growing operating EBITDA, and leveraging that to create more free cash flow, are Waste Management's "top two financial priorities."
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Republic Services
Republic Services is proudly leading the pack when it comes to getting cash to shareholders (citing a 9% return for 2018 as compared to a negative average for the S&P 500) and has ramped up its pace post-tax cut.
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Waste Connections
Waste Connections has been among the most active when it comes to M&A in recent years. It was already ambitious with the 2016 Progressive Waste Solutions deal (valued at $5.16 billion and excluded from this chart for scale) and lately has been fueled by corporate tax cuts.
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Advanced Disposal Services
Advanced has been one of the most active when it comes to reinvesting in capital expenditures for landfill infrastructure, fleet and more. It's activity is still viewed as high, but has come down in relation to overall revenue in recent years.
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Casella Waste Systems
After undergoing a period of reassessment in recent years, Casella is back in growth mode and aiming to hit a free cash flow target of $65-70 million by 2021.
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Covanta
While Covanta continues to look for ways to maximize its domestic assets, the company is more and more focused overseas. A growing list of active international deals are seen as critical to reaching a free cash flow target of $250 million "by the middle of the next decade," according to CFO Brad Helgeson.
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