By the numbers
Net income: $219.3M
Down 9.17% year over year
Adjusted EBITDA: $769.5M
Up 8% year over year, a margin of 32.5% of revenue
- Financial picture: CEO Ron Mittelstaedt said 2026 was “off to a great start” due to revenue and EBITDA results that exceeded expectations. He reaffirmed the company’s full-year outlook, noting the company was “well positioned for incremental benefits” both from recovering commodity prices and ongoing investments in cost-saving AI technologies.
- Fuel price impacts: Rising fuel prices have been a concern across the industry, and internal fuel costs for Waste Connections were about $5 million higher than initially expected for Q1, Mittelstaedt said. Yet the company expects “limited” cost impact exposure for the rest of the year, due in part to hedges on about 45% of its expected diesel requirements for 2026, said CFO Mary Anne Whitney. In certain markets, Waste Connections expects to increase its fuel surcharges in Q2 to absorb further cost effects.
- E&P trends: Waste Connections reported its E&P business was up 4% year over year due to increased oil production activity and higher pricing in Canada, as well as more drilling activity in the U.S. Gulf Coast. Mittelstaedt also hinted that the company is pursuing some smaller E&P tick-in acquisitions in 2026. The company has made headway on reopening two of the five mothballed facilities it acquired from Secure Energy Services in 2024. Mittelstaedt said decisions on whether to reopen more of those facilities will be based on “market dynamics.”
- Price: Overall core price for the quarter was 6%, which Whitney said was trending on the high end of the range the company noted in its outlook due in part to the increase in diesel costs. Core price ranged from about 4% in its exclusive Western market western region and over over 7% in its competitive markets.
- Volume: Solid waste volumes were down about 1.5%, due partly to weather impacts across the country except for the western region, where volumes were up about 1.5%. Landfill tons, “while still mixed, were also encouraging,” Whitney said. Total tons were up 4%, with MSW up 5% and special waste up 8% but partially offset by C&D tons being down 5%.
- Recycled commodity trend turnaround: After months of downturn, some recycled commodity values increased for the first time in seven quarters, Whitney said. That included improving fiber prices: OCC averaged $89 per ton in Q1 and ended the quarter at about $94 a ton, which was in line with the 2025 full- year average price.
- RIN and landfill gas trends: Landfill gas sales also rose in the quarter due to increased volumes from a new RNG facility that is “currently in startup,” she said. Six more RNG projects are expected to come online by the end of the year, Mittelstaedt said. Higher natural gas prices also had an influence in the quarter, while values for RINs were “stable” at about $2.40, following the EPA updating its requirements for renewable volume obligation, Whitney said.
- Artificial intelligence investments: Waste Connections plans to spend between $25 million and $30 million a year through 2027 on AI projects meant to optimize business aspects such as routing and customer pickup tracking. Three of the projects are already in place. Mittelstaedt said the “returns have been quite staggering,” and he expects to continue to see “promising results within pricing effectiveness, customer engagement and asset optimization.” An AI tool for routing is expected to come online later in 2027.
- M&A: Waste Connections continues to expect “outsized” investments in M&A this year, with a few deals representing a total of about $100 million of annualized revenue expected to close by the end of Q2. Most of those deals are expected to be solid waste transactions, including franchise and competitive market deals, he said.
- Chiquita Canyon landfill updates: Waste Connections “continues to make progress” on managing the ongoing “elevated temperature landfill” event causing odor issues at Chiquita Canyon Landfill in California, which closed in January 2025. Mittelstaedt said he welcomed the U.S. EPA’s “expanded involvement” at the facility and is in the process of hammering out a “long term agreement” with the agency over future mitigation strategies. The company doesn’t expect major changes in its 2026 outlook for Chiquita, noting a free cash flow impact of between $100 and $150 million for the year. Those free cash flow impacts are expected to decline in 2027.
