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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Waste Connections and WM (Waste Management, Inc.) both collect and dispose of waste, but their portfolios and strategies differ. Waste Connections emphasizes collection linked to transfer, disposal, and resource recovery, often in secondary and rural markets. WM describes a broader environmental-services portfolio that includes landfill-gas energy and healthcare services through Stericycle. Their latest reported results also use different measures and periods, so the figures below are context—not a direct performance ranking.
How do Waste Connections and WM make money?
Both companies operate across several stages of waste handling: collecting material, moving it through transfer stations, and disposing of or recovering it. Owning or controlling assets at multiple stages can connect collection revenue with disposal and recovery opportunities. The companies describe different emphases within that broad model.
Waste Connections: collection, disposal, and recovery linked together
Waste Connections’ 2025 Form 10-K describes non-hazardous waste collection, transfer, disposal, resource recovery—primarily recycling and renewable-fuels generation—plus exploration and production (E&P) waste services and intermodal operations in the Pacific Northwest. It reported operations across 46 U.S. states and six Canadian provinces. The company says it generally targets secondary and rural markets where exclusive contracts, vertical integration, or strategically placed assets may support efficient operations. Waste Connections’ 2025 Form 10-K
Vertical integration is an explicit part of its economic rationale. Waste Connections says operators with collection routes, transfer stations, and company-owned landfills may internalize some of the waste they collect, aggregate material at transfer stations, and accept third-party waste for tipping fees. Route density—the amount of service a company can provide across a given area—can also help collection efficiency. These are potential operating advantages, not guarantees of higher returns: they depend on asset location, utilization, costs, and local competition.
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WM: waste services alongside environmental and healthcare businesses
WM’s 2025 Form 10-K describes a waste and environmental-solutions portfolio. Its renewable-energy segment operates landfill-gas-to-energy facilities that produce renewable electricity and renewable natural gas; some of that fuel is allocated to its natural-gas fleet. WM’s 2025 annual results also describe healthcare solutions added through Stericycle, including medical-waste and secure-information-destruction services. Those businesses broaden the service mix, but their presence alone does not establish that they will grow faster or perform better than WM’s core operations. WM’s 2025 Form 10-K
| Comparison area | Waste Connections | WM |
|---|---|---|
| Portfolio emphasis | Collection, transfer, disposal, resource recovery, E&P waste services, and Pacific Northwest intermodal operations, as described in its 2025 Form 10-K. | Waste and environmental solutions, including landfill-gas renewable energy and healthcare solutions through Stericycle, as described in its 2025 Form 10-K. |
| Strategic features described by the company | Generally targets secondary and rural markets; highlights exclusive contracts, vertical integration, and strategically located assets. | Includes landfill-gas-to-energy operations and an expanded healthcare-solutions platform. |
| How asset links can matter | Company-owned disposal assets and transfer stations can support internalization and third-party tipping-fee activity. | Landfill-gas facilities connect disposal assets with renewable-energy production. |
Descriptions in this table reflect the companies’ 2025 filings, not a ranking of business quality or profitability. Waste Connections’ 2025 Form 10-K; WM’s 2025 Form 10-K
What drives growth at each company?
Growth is best read as a mix of pricing, volume, acquisitions, and investment in projects or assets—not as one uniform engine. A reported increase in revenue can reflect a different combination of those factors from one company or period to another.
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Pricing, volume, and route operations
Pricing can lift revenue without an increase in the amount of waste collected; volume and route density affect how much material a company handles and how efficiently it can serve customers. Waste Connections’ Q2 2026 filing attributed revenue growth in part to price increases. WM’s July 28, 2026, Q2 release said higher energy surcharges partly offset lower expected volumes in its 2026 revenue outlook. The mix matters: strong pricing does not by itself show that volumes or operating costs are improving.
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Waste Connections identifies acquisitions—in existing, adjacent, or new markets—as a growth source, alongside internal growth. Acquisitions can add routes, customers, or assets, but they can also affect comparisons between periods and require successful integration. WM’s Stericycle expansion similarly adds services while making acquisition integration and execution relevant considerations. The companies’ 2025 filings describe these portfolio and growth elements. Waste Connections’ 2025 Form 10-K; WM’s 2025 Form 10-K
Recycling and renewable-energy projects
WM’s Q2 2026 release said recycling and renewable-energy project contributions supported revenue growth. Waste Connections includes recycling and renewable-fuels generation within resource recovery. These businesses diversify activity beyond collection and disposal, but output and economics can depend on operating conditions, project performance, and commodity or energy markets. The available disclosures do not establish that these contributions will be stable from period to period.
What do the latest Q2 2026 updates show?
The latest company-specific quarterly updates covered the quarter ended June 30, 2026, but the selected measures below differ in both period and definition. Waste Connections reported quarterly revenue and adjusted EBITDA; WM’s figures here include six-month cash flow and full-year revenue guidance. They should not be treated as like-for-like measures of performance.
| Company and measure | Reported figure | Period and qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Waste Connections revenue | $2.562 billion, up 6.4% year over year | Quarter ended June 30, 2026; revenue growth reflected price increases and acquisition contributions, according to the company’s filing. |
| Waste Connections adjusted EBITDA | $840.1 million, up 6.8%; adjusted EBITDA margin was 32.8% | Quarter ended June 30, 2026. Adjusted EBITDA is a company-defined non-GAAP measure. |
| WM operating cash flow | $1.73 billion, compared with $1.55 billion for the same period in 2025 | Six months ended June 30, 2026. |
| WM free cash flow | $1.10 billion, compared with $818 million for the same period in 2025 | Six months ended June 30, 2026. Free cash flow is a non-GAAP measure. |
| WM 2026 revenue outlook | $26.275 billion to $26.475 billion | Management guidance in the July 28, 2026, Q2 release; the outlook reflected lower expected volumes partly offset by higher energy surcharges. |
Sources: Waste Connections’ Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026; WM’s Q2 2026 earnings release, July 28, 2026. Waste Connections also said it raised its 2026 outlook; the specific revised outlook figures are not stated here.
The comparison cannot establish which company is performing better: one company’s quarterly revenue and adjusted EBITDA are not directly comparable to the other’s six-month cash-flow measures or annual revenue guidance. Scale, service mix, reporting period, and metric definitions all differ.
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What are the main risks to consider?
Costs, labor, and operating execution
Waste Connections describes solid waste as a capital- and labor-intensive industry and notes regulatory complexity and competition. In its Q2 2026 filing, it reported higher fuel costs and other segment-specific cost pressures even as price increases contributed to revenue growth. Whether pricing offsets costs is a continuing operating question, not something revenue growth alone resolves. Waste Connections’ 2025 Form 10-K; Waste Connections’ Q2 2026 Form 10-Q
Landfill access, capacity, and regulation
Collection economics can depend on access to transfer stations and disposal capacity near the routes being served. Landfills can close or be farther from collection areas, while operating and permitting requirements add complexity and cost. Waste Connections’ filing identifies landfill access and capacity, regulation, and competition as material industry considerations. These factors can make the location and availability of assets as important as the number of routes or customers.
Acquisition integration and capital demands
Acquisitions may expand a company’s network or add services, but integration can consume management attention and complicate period-to-period comparisons. WM’s Stericycle expansion and Waste Connections’ acquisition-led growth both make execution relevant to the comparison. Waste businesses also require ongoing labor and capital resources, so growth needs to be evaluated alongside investment requirements and resulting cash generation.
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Volume, commodity, and energy exposure
WM’s Q2 2026 outlook cited lower expected volumes and higher energy surcharges as factors affecting revenue expectations. Recycling and renewable-energy operations add exposure to commodity, energy, project, and operating conditions; the companies’ portfolio descriptions do not guarantee consistent prices or production. These risks can affect different service lines in different ways rather than moving the whole business uniformly.
Both companies’ outlooks are management forecasts based on assumptions and subject to risks; actual results may differ. For the cited outlook and Q2 commentary, see WM’s July 28, 2026, earnings release and Waste Connections’ Q2 2026 Form 10-Q.
How to compare the businesses as an investor
Rather than treating the companies as interchangeable waste haulers, compare the factors that shape the durability and economics of each business:
- Service mix: Identify how much emphasis each company places on collection, disposal, recovery, and other environmental or healthcare services.
- Asset integration: Consider how routes, transfer stations, and disposal assets fit together and whether the company describes internalization or other advantages.
- Growth composition: Separate price increases, volume, acquisitions, and capital-project contributions when reading results.
- Cost and capacity exposure: Look for disclosed pressures involving fuel, labor, operating costs, landfill access, permitting, and disposal capacity.
- Cash generation and investment: Review cash-flow and capital-allocation measures using each company’s stated definitions and reporting periods.
- Guidance versus results: Keep management outlooks distinct from achieved results and note the assumptions and risks accompanying forecasts.
This framework supports a business comparison, not a share-price target or personalized investment recommendation.
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