Overview

Waste Connections vision is very straightforward: we want to be the premier services provider for solid waste and recycling in each of the markets that we serve, in the eyes of each of our constituencies: our employees, our customers and our shareholders. Waste Connections has been working with us for quite a long period of time. They provide all of our solid waste services from the garbage collection, the recycling, the transfer stations and the ultimate disposal of the solid waste. For us it's one of the least of our worries. So I brought some samples, do you want to see some samples for the cart program? It's taken care of and it's done well and our citizens are happy and that's all we can ask for. Waste Connections started from a fairly humble beginning back in 1997. Three or four of us had an idea that there was an opportunity to consolidate secondary and rural markets in the United States. Waste Connections today is the third largest solid waste and recycling company in the United States. We operate nationwide, coast to coast and border to border, with nearly 7,000 employees. Today have become a multi-billion-dollar company. Waste Connections has a broad area of expertise. They're professionals and they know the business, they know what the customer demands and needs. We recommend the company to other cities that call and ask about the services, and we just feel comfortable that they're going to do a good job wherever they serve. Our client base ranges from an individual homeowner that we service on a subscription basis to a large municipality where we might service 100 to 200,000 customers under a long term municipal contract. Today we operate in over 1500 municipalities to service those 2-million customers. The city of Guthrie is just a little historic town. Waste Connections is fantastic. If we have any kind of problems we call the person that is officed in Guthrie and he takes care of it right away. I believe a number of things differentiate Waste Connections from our competitors. Even though we're a very large, multi-billion dollar company, we do everything we can to act small. We run this business on a local basis with a local general manager who lives and works in that market and makes all day to day decisions on service delivery. The nice thing about Waste Connections is that we deal with the local people who address the local issues and so when we have a concern, when we have a need, they are very responsive. They do go out and talk with the city of Guthrie's customer, on an individual basis if there is a problem. Waste Connections is very involved in our community and they help us out in many ways. It is not uncommon for one of our locations to support dozens if not hundreds of local market community organizations. We believe that you have to be an intricate part of the fabric of the community to understand how best to deliver service in each of the markets that we operate in. They are community-minded and they have been involved in our local activities and in that sense they are part of our community. Their logo's on a lot of the things that happen civically. It's just great to see that they're a great corporate citizen. I think the vision, values and purpose statement of our company is really the backbone of the organization. Our #1 value is safety, right behind that is integrity. For Waste Connections all we have to offer our clients is service. We are not a product oriented company, we're a service oriented company. They have provided excellent service to us, they've taken care of all of the details, they've done all the things that we've asked them to with the enhancement at the transfer station for sorting recyclable materials, to the change out in the trucks and the bins to accommodate recycling, even implementing an environmental management system that's an ISO 14001 certification. On the west coast we have converted a number of our collection fleets from diesel power to liquid natural gas. We are collecting methane gas at our landfills and we are converting that to electricity. In addition we are looking at a number of technologies from incineration to what we call plasma gasification which is the conversion of waste into energy. Sustainability and becoming more green are very popular buzz words but the reality is that they have been hallmarks and backbones of Waste Connections from the day we formed the company. Waste Connections is operated very professionally, I have been through all of the transfer stations and they take care of the details, they have good staff from the drivers up. Here at Waste Connections, the most important asset we have as a company is our people. The people at Waste Connections are what drives it, it's what drives value for our stakeholders. We believe we're the right service provider for any community. The attitude of all the people from the drivers all the way up to the top levels have just been very good to work with. Waste Connections provides us with excellent service, there's more personal contact. They're very responsive. They're committed to Vancouver and Clark County. They're just a great community employer. It's really been wonderful. The services have been great and it's been a great experience.