Landfill and Service Pricing Up Significantly Despite Drop in Volume

Date: October 14, 2008

Source: News Room

Recent surveys of waste disposal and processing facilities indicates continued pricing strength in the industry despite a small decline in waste volumes. Prices nationally are up nearly 4% among all facility types including landfills, transfer and processing facilities and waste-to-energy plants. Landfill pricing is up by 6.2% in the last twelve months even though volumes are off by 3%. Pricing is particularly strong in the northeast where declining landfill capacity in that region coupled with increased transportation costs to export waste elsewhere has pushed pricing up by 8% in the last year. The decline in volume is a composite of steadily increasing residential waste volumes that comprise a third of the waste stream offset by commercial and construction debris volumes, comprising a third of the waste stream, that are off by as much as 15% to 20% year over year in the troubled economy. Pricing strength stems from increased market discipline among the publicly traded and private companies that now control over two-thirds of the business on a volume basis. Their focus on return on invested capital, vertical integration through higher internalization rates and higher margin businesses builds pricing momentum. Add to that increased fuel, healthcare and insurance costs which is forcing some unity among providers to raise prices accordingly. These latest figures come from Waste Business Journal's Monthly Pricing Service which is available by subscription for $295 per year. To learn more, call (619) 793-5190 or visit www.wasteinfo.com/wbjpriceindex.htm.

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