Casella Waste posts 17% revenue rise on acquisitions and pricing

The Vermont-based solid waste and recycling group raised full-year revenue guidance to $2.1bn after closing five acquisitions worth $165m in annualised revenues.

By Rowen Brooks Sat, 5 September 2026 AI level 2 of 5

AI level 2 of 5: drafted by our AI editorial assistant from source material our editor chose; fact-checked, edited and signed off by Mark Walker, Editorial Director. What the levels mean

Bales of cardboard are stacked on the left, and bales of blue and green recycled plastic on the right, in a brightly lit industrial recycling facility featuring a conveyor belt system.

Casella Waste Systems (Nasdaq: CWST) reported second-quarter 2026 revenues of $543.7 million, up 16.9% year on year, as acquisition activity and disciplined pricing more than offset a modest drag from collection volumes. The Vermont-based regional solid waste, recycling and resource management group raised its full-year revenue guidance to a range of $2.09 billion to $2.11 billion, up from the prior range of $2.06 billion to $2.08 billion.

Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, adjusted for non-recurring items) reached $123.2 million in the quarter, up 12.5% from the same period in 2025, at a margin of 22.7%. That margin contracted by approximately 80 basis points year on year, partly because floating fuel-recovery fees, while covering the direct cost of elevated fuel prices, created a 40-basis-point drag on the adjusted EBITDA margin as a revenue line item. Reported net income fell to $3.8 million from $5.2 million in Q2 2025, reflecting higher interest costs tied to acquisition debt.

Acquisition-led growth

Five businesses have been acquired so far in 2026, with aggregate annualised revenues of approximately $165 million. The company spent $400.8 million on acquisitions in the first half of the year, drawing on new debt borrowings of $249 million; long-term debt rose to $1.33 billion at 30 June from $1.13 billion at year-end 2025. The goodwill balance increased to $1.37 billion from $1.12 billion over the same period, reflecting the premium paid for acquired businesses.

Solid waste pricing was up 5.5% in the quarter, with collection price growth of 5.8% and disposal price growth of 4.7%. Landfill volumes increased year on year, driven by both third-party sales and internalisation of collected waste. President and chief executive Ned Coletta said the company had completed systems-integration work in its Mid-Atlantic region, acquired in an earlier deal, and had begun route optimisation there.

Market context

Casella operates in a consolidating regional market. The US solid waste sector has historically attracted infrastructure-style capital because of the contracted, recurring nature of municipal and commercial collection revenues, the high barrier to entry posed by landfill permitting, and the pricing power that comes from limited local competition. Roll-up strategies, pioneered by the larger national operators, have progressively been adopted by mid-sized regional players such as Casella.

The recycling and resource-solutions segment adds a layer of commodity exposure: recyclable material prices are volatile, and the Q2 figures showed a small negative contribution from commodity price and volume. The company's Resource Solutions segment, which covers materials processing and national accounts for recyclables, contributed $101.6 million in third-party revenue in Q2, up 10.7% from a year earlier, partly from acquisitions.

One operational note of interest to the waste-valorisation market is the closure of an organic-residuals composting facility in Maine. A change in state law prohibiting land application of biosolids-based recycled products forced the closure, generating $1.1 million in charges in Q2 and an expected $3 million for the full year. The episode illustrates how state-level regulatory shifts can rapidly strand organics-processing infrastructure.

Outlook

Full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance was reaffirmed at $473 million to $483 million, implying a second-half run-rate that requires continuing pricing discipline and integration delivery. Adjusted free cash flow guidance of $200 million to $210 million was also held steady, against capital expenditure of approximately $275 million for the year. Reported net income guidance was trimmed to a range of zero to $6 million, from $4 million to $10 million previously, reflecting higher interest costs.

Investors will focus on the pace of acquisition integration in the Mid-Atlantic, the trajectory of recycled-commodity prices, and whether the company can sustain solid waste pricing above 5% into a potentially softening macroeconomic environment in the second half of 2026.