Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Mary Anne Whitney: And of course, in an environment like this, Stephanie, where incremental borrowing costs are over 5.5%, then debt repayment is another avenue that we’ll consider.

Stephanie Yee: Okay. That makes sense. And can you just make a comment on your customer retention rates overall?

Worthing Jackman: Yes, retention is quite high. I mean I think the other companies have talked about it as well. The reality is when we talk about labor constraints, it’s across the industry. So it’s the ability for competitors to poach is as constrained by their lack of excess capacity as others. I’d say that service in this environment matters a great deal. You can’t put a price on the street and not service your customers, right? And so retention has been quite high, I’d say all-time high. I’d say retention on pricing even at these levels is at its highest level as well. And so again, that just shows you the overall constraints that everyone is operating under not just one company or another.

Operator: Next question will be from Sean Eastman, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Q -: This is Nick on for Sean today. I just wanted to come back to sustainability. A lot of your competitors are talking about sort of increasing demand for plastic circularity. Is that consistent with maybe what you’re seeing in the marketplace? And if so, would that be something you’d consider exploring further down the line?

Worthing Jackman: I think our view right now is we’re happy to be a supplier of recovered plastics to some of these investments or others that are chasing this.

Operator: This concludes our question-and-answer session. I’d like to turn the call back over to Mr. Worthing Jackman for closing remarks. Please go ahead.

Worthing Jackman: Terrific, Nick, and thanks for being there for us today. If there are no further questions, on behalf of our entire management team, we appreciate your listening to and interest in the call today. Mary Anne and Joe Box are available today to answer any direct questions that we did not cover that we’re allowed to answer on the Reg FD, Reg G and applicable securities laws in Canada. Thank you again. We look forward to seeing you at upcoming investor conferences or on our next earnings call. Thank you.

Operator: Conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today’s presentation. You may now disconnect.