By the numbers: Q2 2026
Revenue: $4.4B
Up 4.6% year over year
Net income: $566M
Up 2.9% year over year, with a margin of 12.8%
Adjusted EBITDA: $1.4B
Up 4.6% year over year
- Overview: Republic Services reported a stable quarter driven by pricing ahead of cost inflation. Contributions from several initiatives beyond the core solid waste business are contributing to the company’s topline growth. That includes its two active polymer centers, which have shown the ability to handle greater volumes than initially projected and are capturing rising commodity prices. “Our second quarter results reflect the strength and resilience of our business model, as we continue to execute our strategy and deliver differentiated value for our customers," Jon Vander Ark, president and chief executive officer, said in a statement accompanying the company’s earnings release.
- Artificial intelligence and automation: Republic continues to explore the use of AI across its business. Vander Ark said on the company’s Thursday earnings call that “automation and AI will impact everything we do.” He reiterated that adoption of AI-driven pricing decisions, routing and call centers is expected to add $100 million of benefit to the underlying business. When asked about recent advancements in landfill equipment automation, however, he struck a more cautious tone, noting it was unlikely to improve labor costs. “Automation, just like everything else we do, has got to have a return,” he said.
- PFAS: Vander Ark said Republic is ahead of its expectation to achieve $100 million in PFAS-related business in 2026, which accrues mostly to the Environmental Solutions segment. Republic is also making use of its non-hazardous Subtitle D landfills for certain contaminated wastes, he noted. When asked about New York state’s proposal to regulate PFAS in landfill leachate, Vander Ark said he was “not opposed to regulation, but it's got to be sensible regulation.” He added: “Penalizing the landfill we think is the wrong solution. We're actually the right point [in the system] to remediate that” PFAS-contaminated material.”
- Recycling and commodities: Commodity prices were $136 per ton in Q2, down slightly from $149 per ton in Q2 2025. Recycling processing and commodity sales increased by $8 million to $122 million year over year in Q2, as higher volumes offset the lower prices. Prices have also been on the upswing in recent months. Republic is now projecting an average price of $140 per ton for the rest of 2026, substantially contributing to the company’s raised guidance for the year. Construction continues at Republic’s third polymer center in Allentown, Pennsylvania, which the company expects will open early next year.
- Environmental Solutions: Executives reported improving margins in the company’s environmental services segment and signs of long-term growth in the pipeline. That comes after the company had to adjust its approach to pricing versus volume trade-offs last year amid some softness in the business. The segment recorded $473 million in revenue in Q2, down about 1% year over year.
- Residential volumes: Collections volumes included a 4.3% decline in residential volumes, an improvement both sequentially and compared to Q2 2025. Vander Ark said the company would continue to prioritize pricing over volume to maximize returns, leading to the company exiting some residential contracts.
- Industrial turnaround: He also noted the slump in industrial and construction activity was beginning to turn somewhat, saying "We’re coming out of a period of nearly four years of negative growth in recycling and waste.” At landfills, MSW was up 1.1% year over year and special waste was down 0.3% year over year. C&D waste was down 37.4% year over year, which executives attributed to high volumes last year from wildfire-related debris.
- Fleet: The company had 250 electric collection vehicles in operation at the end of Q2, and expects to have 300 in operation by the end of the year. The company has a longstanding partnership with McNeilus to roll out its Volterra ZSL electric collection trucks. Vander Ark said the vehicles were exceeding expectations on battery performance and uptime. He also said the trucks have sacrificed relatively little payload despite the heavy batteries because they were designed “studs up as an EV.”
- Guidance: The company raised its full-year guidance, largely based on improved commodity expectations and contributions from M&A, which is now expected to reach $1.2 billion for the year. Revenue is projected to be between $17.2 billion and $17.3 billion. Adjusted earnings before income, taxes, depreciation and amortization is now projected to be between $5.525 billion and $5.55 billion.
