Waste Connections, Inc. (WCN)

Waste Connections reported third-quarter 2026 revenue of $2.638 billion on 21 October, up from $2.458 billion a year earlier 1. Net income was $359.2 million, or $1.43 per diluted share, and adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, with one-off items removed) was $895.8 million 1.

Chief executive Ronald J Mittelstaedt credited better landfill activity and commodity-driven revenue, and said a late-quarter surge in diesel prices was overcome 1. The company raised its 2026 outlook for the second time, to revenue of about $10.09 billion and adjusted EBITDA of about $3.345 billion 1.

The board lifted the quarterly dividend to $0.385 a share from $0.350, payable on 19 November 2. The company says it has spent over $1 billion on repurchasing its own shares so far this year 1.

Still open is the Chiquita Canyon Landfill in Los Angeles County, closed to new waste since the end of 2024 2. A subsidiary is suing the county for more than $825 million over the closure, and a hearing on first pleading challenges is set for March 8, 2027 25.

Waste Connections was founded in 1997, and Ronald J Mittelstaedt ran it as chief executive from its formation until July 2019 3. In 2016 it merged with Progressive Waste Solutions, a rival waste company 3.

Its growth has leaned on buying small haulers, because many independent operators want to sell for personal or estate reasons 3. It completed 13 acquisitions in 2023, 24 in 2024 for $2.228 billion, and 19 in 2025 for $966.8 million 3.

Revenue rose 6.1 percent in 2025 to $9.467 billion from $8.920 billion in 2024, but only 1.9 percent once acquisitions are set aside 3. Price increases of 6.4 percent did the work, while volumes fell 2.8 percent as the company dropped lower quality revenue, including some residential hauling contracts 3.

The oilfield waste line (E&P, exploration and production) grew fast: from $232.2 million of revenue in 2023 to $521.5 million in 2024 and $688.8 million in 2025, before intercompany sales are removed 3.

The Chiquita Canyon Landfill in Los Angeles County shaped 2024 2. Odor complaints began in May 2023 from a heat reaction in a lined, non-active area 2. A permit cut in allowed tonnage, from about two million tons to about one million, applied from 1 January 2025 2.

Judging the site no longer economic, the company stopped taking waste there on 31 December 2024 and recorded charges of $480.8 million to the closure liability and $116.1 million of impairment 3. Impairments and other items totaled $613.0 million in 2024, against $109.7 million in 2025 3.

Net income attributable to the company rose 74 percent to $1.077 billion in 2025 from $617.6 million in 2024, mainly because those charges shrank 3.

Collection, transfer and landfills

Waste Connections calls itself the third largest solid waste services company in North America, working in 46 states and six provinces of Canada 3. It picks up trash and recycling, moves it through transfer stations, and disposes of it in landfills, sometimes by rail 3.

Collection is the biggest line: $6,748.1 million of 2025 revenue before intercompany sales, with landfills at $1,541.9 million and transfer stations at $1,461.6 million 3. Franchise agreements and most municipal contracts give it the exclusive right to serve a territory 3.

Owning the landfill matters because a vertically integrated operator can bring waste to its own site and charge outside haulers to use it 3. At the end of 2025 it owned 65 MSW landfills and operated 12 more it did not own 3.

In the third quarter prices at existing operations rose $153.4 million, $123.7 million of it core price increases 2. Volume losses of $54.8 million came mostly from roll off and commercial pickups 2.

Oilfield waste, recycling and gas

The company treats and disposes of waste from oil and gas drilling in several basins, which brought in $688.8 million in 2025 3. In the third quarter that revenue rose $19.1 million, helped by a facility that resumed operations 2.

Recycling brought in $240.1 million in 2025 across 90 recycling operations, and the company ran gas recovery systems at 61 landfills to capture methane 3. Waste Dive reported in July that landfill gas sales rose 15 percent from the first quarter 6.

Six regions

The company runs six regional segments 3. In 2025 Southern was the largest at $1,907.8 million of revenue, Eastern earned a 26.5 percent segment EBITDA margin, and Canada the highest at 45.2 percent on $1,324.9 million 3.

People

Ronald J Mittelstaedt has been president and chief executive since April 2023, Mary Anne Whitney has been chief financial officer since February 2021, and Jason J Craft has been chief operating officer since August 2025 3.

At the end of 2025 it employed about 24,214 people, including 11,347 commercial truck drivers, and about 16 percent were under collective bargaining agreements, mainly with the Teamsters 3.

Rivals

The annual report names three other publicly held solid waste companies, Waste Management, Republic Services and GFL Environmental, plus thousands of small local firms 3. In oilfield waste it names rivals such as Clean Harbors and Select Water Solutions 3.

Current problems

At Chiquita Canyon, the regulator South Coast Air Quality Management District had issued about 497 odor notices of violation by 16 October 2026, and the modified abatement order carries 110 conditions 2. The district also sued the company's subsidiaries on 13 May 2026 for unspecified penalties 2.

Los Angeles County filed its own suit against the landfill operator in 2024, and Waste Dive reported on 4 August 2026 that the case remains ongoing 5. The company says it cannot estimate the possible loss from the Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, odor suit, which had 6,211 plaintiffs 2.

The umbrella, in words

Exhibit 21.1 of the annual report lists the subsidiaries, named by where each was formed, and does not say which are listed 4. It includes Waste Connections US, Inc., Louisiana Regional Landfill Company and Chiquita Canyon, LLC, the owner of the landfill in the dispute 42.

Local names persist, such as Heart of Florida Environmental, a name used by one subsidiary 4. The parent is an Ontario corporation, and no single customer was more than 10 percent of revenue in the nine months to September 2026 32.

It owned 371 collection operations, 164 transfer stations and 36 oilfield waste treatment facilities at the end of 2025, and Waste Dive reported a $51 million Florida property purchase in 2026 36.

For 2026 the company expects revenue of about $10.09 billion, net income of about $1.18 billion and adjusted EBITDA of about $3.345 billion, leaving out acquisitions that may close during the year 1. It expects capital spending of about $1.25 billion 1.

It also expects adjusted free cash flow of $1.40 billion to $1.45 billion, and its chief executive said growth of at least $1.4 billion was in view 1.

Waste Dive reported that the chief financial officer expected a full-year core price increase of about 5.5 percent, and that the chief executive expected all gas projects at landfills to be operating early next year 6.

The company said extra acquisitions this year, or better oilfield waste activity, would add to results, and that deals closed so far carry about $130 million of annualized revenue 1.

The next dividend of $0.385 is payable on 19 November to shareholders of record on 5 November 2026, and the repurchase program renewed in August allows up to 12,578,462 shares until 11 August 2027 2.

In the Chiquita Canyon cases, a hearing on first pleading challenges is set for March 8, 2027, and the Jefferson Parish appeal request was pending when the report was filed 2.