Waste Connections, Inc.

greetings and welcome to the waste connections first quarter 2021 earnings conference call during the presentation all participants will be in the listen only mode afterwards we will conduct a question and answer session at that time if you have a question please press the one followed by the four on your telephone if at any time during the conference you need to reach an operator please press star zero as a reminder this conference is being recorded on thursday april 29 2021. I would now like to turn the conference over to Worthing Jackman, President and CEO. Please go ahead.

Worthing Jackman Terrific. Thank you, Operator, and good morning. I'd like to welcome everyone to this conference call to discuss our first quarter 2021 results and provide a detailed outlook for the second quarter. I'm joined this morning by Mary Ann Whitney, our CFO. As noted in our earnings release, strong solid waste pricing growth, accelerating solid waste volumes, and increased resource recovery values drove better-than-expected first quarter results and an improving outlook for 2021. These tailwinds, bolstered by strong solid waste pricing retention, drove adjusted EBITDA margin in Q1 up 70 basis points higher than expected and up 80 basis points year-over-year. As Mary Ann will discuss shortly, a 210 basis points year-over-year solid waste margin improvement in Q1 more than offset drags primarily from lower E&P waste activity and stock market-related deferred comp margin swings. Adjusted free cash flow was $290 million in the period, positioning us to comfortably exceed our minimum outlook of $950 million for the full year. Solid waste activity accelerated as we exited the first quarter, with volumes up 2.6% year-over-year in March, in spite of a tough COVID-19 tough, positioning us for double-digit solid waste price plus volume growth in the second quarter. recovered commodity values also continue to improve. We knew that our differentiated response to the COVID-19 pandemic will leave us well-positioned as local economies reopen. We are encouraged by the improving macro trends and our strong operating and financial performance as we anniversary the onset of the pandemic. COVID-19-related impacts to our business continue to abate, but most importantly, our commitment to and support of our employees and their families are unwavering. Before we get into much more detail, let me turn the call over to Marianne for our forward-looking disclaimer and other housekeeping items.

Thank you, Worthing, and good morning. The discussion during today's call includes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Actual results could differ materially from those made in such forward-looking statements due to various risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ are disclosed both in the cautionary statement included in our April 28th earnings release and in greater detail in Waste Connections filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Securities Commissions or similar regulatory authorities in Canada. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there may be additional risks of which we are not presently aware or that we currently believe are immaterial which could have an adverse impact on our business. We make no commitment to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may change after today's date. On the call, we will discuss non-GAAP measures such as adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income attributable to waste connections on both the dollar basis and per diluted share, and adjusted free cash flow. Please refer to our earnings releases for a reconciliation of such non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measures. Management uses certain non-GAAP measures to evaluate and monitor the ongoing financial performance of our operations. Other companies may calculate these non-GAAP measures differently. I will now turn the call back over to Worthing.