Waste Management, Inc.

conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star 1-1 on your telephone. You will then hear an automatic message advising your hand is raised. Please note that today's conference may be recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker host, Ed Eagle, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Livia. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for our fourth quarter and full year 2024 earnings conference call. With me this morning are Jim Fish, President and Chief Executive Officer, John Morris, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, and Davina Rankin, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. You will hear prepared comments from each of them today. Jim will cover high-level financials and provide a strategic update, John will cover an operating overview, and Davina will cover the details of the financials in our 2025 outlook. Before we get started, please note that we have filed a form 8K that includes the earnings press release and is available on our website at www.wm.com. The form 8K, the press release, and the schedules for the press release include important information. During the call, you will hear forward-looking statements, which are based on current expectations, projections, or opinions about future periods. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Some of these risks and uncertainties are discussed in today's press release and in our files with the SEC, including our most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Qs. John will discuss our results in the area of yield and volume, which, unless stated otherwise, are more specifically references to internal revenue growth or IRG from yield or volume. During the call, Jim, John, and Davina will discuss operating EBITDA, which is income from operations before depreciation and amortization. You will also hear references to WM Healthcare Solutions, This new segment includes the Acquired Stericycle Medical Waste and Secure Information Destruction businesses. References to the WM Legacy business are total WM results excluding the WM Healthcare Solutions segment. Any comparisons, unless otherwise stated, will be with the prior year period. Net income, EPS, income from operations and margin, operating EBITDA and margin, operating expense and margin, and SG&A expense and margin results have been adjusted to enhance comparability by excluding certain items that management believes do not reflect our fundamental business performance or results of operations. These adjusted measures and adjusted projections, in addition to free cash flow, are non-GAAP measures. Please refer to the earnings press release and tables, which can be found on the company's website at www.wm.com, for reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures and additional information of our use of non-GAAP measures and non-GAAP projections. This call is being recorded and will be available 24 hours a day, beginning at approximately 1 p.m. Eastern Time today. To hear a replay of the call, access the WM website at www.investors.wm.com. Time-sensitive information provided during today's call, which is occurring on January 30, 2025, may no longer be accurate at the time of a replay. Any redistribution, retransmission, or rebroadcast of this call in any form without the express written consent of WM is prohibited. Now I'll turn the call over to WM's President and CEO, Jim Fish.

All right. Thanks, Ed. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. I'm pleased to report another year of outsized operational and financial performance driven by our team's focus on top-line growth and cost discipline. This combination, along with our ongoing investments in technology, automation, and sustainability, have positioned WM to continue delivering long-term value to our shareholders. In 2024, we remained dedicated to optimizing the cost structure, expanding our sustainability platform, and enhancing shareholder returns. This focus led us to achieve operating EBITDA growth of more than 10% in our legacy business for the year and achieving 30% full-year operating EBITDA margin for the first time in our history. Our collection and disposal business led the way driven by consistent organic revenue growth, disciplined cost initiatives, and a continued focus on business mix optimization. 2024 marked a year of significant milestones in progressing sustainability growth investments. We brought five renewable natural gas facilities online, expanding our renewable energy platform and further positioning WM as a leader in environmental sustainability. And we're confident in the demand for renewable natural gas, especially from sources like our landfills and in our overall investment thesis for these transformative assets. Additionally, in 2024, we advanced automation upgrades at 10 recycling facilities improving throughput and lowering operating costs across our recycling network, and added recycling facilities in two new markets. These investments are unlocking opportunities with customers and delivering positive environmental outcomes, while also putting us on a path to broader long-term financial growth. We're progressing well on the remaining renewable natural gas and recycling projects and expect our growth investments to contribute operating EBITDA approaching $800 million in 2027. We have a great deal of confidence in the value of these projects that are underway, and we're enthusiastic about the strong compliment they provide to our existing business. In addition to achieving strong organic growth across our business in 2024, It was a sizable year for acquisitions, including the successful completion of the Stericycle acquisition in November. Adding Stericycle's leading platform in medical waste management and secure information destruction to WM broadens our suite of solutions, allowing us to more comprehensively serve our customers across a wider range of environmental services. Our integration efforts are underway, and in a short three months, we've integrated the commercial, operations support and back office functions into WM structures, led by our seasoned discipline leaders. One of our new employees summed up our excitement for this acquisition saying, it really feels good to be working for a management team that's looking to grow and optimize the business. We have a well-resourced, experienced WM team engaged in making the necessary operational and cultural changes, and we're encouraged by the progress we've made so far. With respect to synergy capture, we now expect $250 million of synergies over a three-year period, and we're confident we can deliver up to $100 million in 2025. The WM Healthcare Solutions business is expected to grow about 9% before synergies, driven by organic revenue growth and operations initiatives. Overall, we remain confident and focused on ensuring a smooth transition for both employees and customers while driving synergies and unlocking value. This acquisition exemplifies our disciplined approach to capital allocation and strategic growth, and we're excited about the long-term benefits it will bring to WM. Looking ahead to 2025, we're confident that the momentum we've built will lead to another year of outpaced growth. At the midpoint of our guidance, we expect our collection and disposal business to produce more than 7% operating EBITDA growth in the year ahead, even as we face a headwind from the expiration of alternative fuel tax credits. Our disciplined focus on pricing and cost management will ensure that we maintain healthy margins with a positive price-to-cost spread. Our renewable energy and recycling platforms will continue to scale, with additional projects coming online and incremental contributions from sustainability investments expected to accelerate this year, adding $150 million of operating EBITDA growth in our sustainability segments. Combining all of this, we expect to deliver total company operating EBITDA growth of 15% at the midpoint of our range, or nearly $1 billion of growth in 2025 compared to 2024. Before I turn the call over to John to cover operating results, I want to express my gratitude to the entire WM team, including our new team members from Stericycle. Their commitment to our mission and values continues to be the foundation of our success. As we look forward, We're excited about the opportunities ahead and remain steadfast in our goal of creating long-term value for all of our stakeholders. I'll now hand it over to John to provide more detail on our operational performance.