Senior Heavy Equipment Operator

Waste Management (WM): is its landfill moat the best in the market? You cannot build a new landfill in America anymore, which gives Waste Management rare pricing power. At 29 times earnings, the question is whether that alone is enough. Published October 5, 2026 at 10:23 pm EDT Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) operates the largest network of permitted solid waste landfills in North America. Strict environmental regulations and intense community opposition make permits nearly impossible to obtain, so WM's existing capacity only becomes more valuable. At about $204 a share and $82 billion in value, WM trades near 29 times earnings, roughly 18% below its high. Current valuation levels reflect market expectations that an irreplaceable asset, plus steady price increases, will keep compounding and justify a premium. On the other hand, the industry could be reaching its maturity. The pricing-power math. The difficulties in building new landfills mean less competition and that WM can raise prices faster than inflation year after year. In the latest quarter, it lifted core price about 5.7%, well above inflation, while its disposal volumes stayed steady. This is the kind of pricing power usually seen in utilities. In addition to standard collection and disposal, the company captures naturally generated landfill methane, purifies it into renewable natural gas, and sells it directly into pipeline grids. Management expects renewable energy and automated recycling operations to generate roughly $1 billion in incremental EBITDA by 2027. The company is also integrating Stericycle to establish a presence in regulated medical waste. Looking to invest in healthcare? Then check out which healthcare stocks hedge funds are piling on. At 29 times earnings, WM's investors are underwriting both consistent core price increases and timely execution on these sustainability projects. The bull case. Here is the case for the buyers. The bulls see strong durability in the moat. New landfill capacity is nearly impossible to manufacture, allowing WM to enjoy strong pricing power. Additionally, demand for waste pickup barely blinks in a recession, which makes earnings steady and predictable. The renewable-gas and recycling investments add further growth to the company's progress, while the Stericycle deal opens a large new medical-waste market for WM. The company also pays a growing dividend and buys back stock on strong free cash flow. That combination of clean balance sheets and self-funded payouts is rarer than most investors assume. We screened the market for the 10 stocks with low debt and strong free cash flow that share it. The bear case. The bears argue that 29 times earnings are elevated for a business expanding underlying revenue at low-to-mid single digits. The core business grows slowly, and much of WM's appeal is its steady, bond-like payout, so higher-for-longer interest rates can weigh on the multiple as safer yields compete. The growth extras carry their own risks: recycling profits swing with volatile commodity prices, and the economics of renewable gas depend on contract prices and government credits that can change. WM already trimmed its revenue outlook this year on weaker volumes and delayed gas-plant connections. Meanwhile, the Stericycle integration still must prove out. The bottom line. So, weigh one question: do renewable gas and the Stericycle medical-waste push add enough growth to the steady landfill base to justify 29 times? For the bulls, those newer arms are the swing factor, since the core alone grows only mid-single digits. For the bears, 29 times is reasonable only if you prize the moat's durability. An income investor gets a dependable, rising dividend, though the 1.8% yield is modest. The landfill moat may be the most durable in the market, yet the premium already reflects much of that quality. Market sentiment. According to Insider Monkey's database, 64 hedge funds held Waste Management, Inc. at the end of the second quarter of 2026, up from 61 the quarter before. The value of those combined holdings edged down over the same period, from about $8.0 billion to roughly $7.7 billion.

Caterpillar and Waste Management are highlighted as strong dividend-paying industrial stocks for reliable income. Caterpillar reported Q2 revenue of $20.5 billion, up 24% year-over-year, with earnings of $7.77 per share. The company returned $2.2 billion to shareholders, including $700 million in dividends. Its stock is up 43% this year, yielding 0.8% with a $6.52 per share dividend that has increased for 32 consecutive years. Waste Management posted Q2 revenue of $6.68 billion, up from $6.43 billion previously, with net income of $785 million. The company returned $1.04 billion to shareholders, including $379 million in dividends. Despite being down 6% this year, its dividend yield stands at 1.8% with a $3.78 per share payout, marking 23 consecutive years of increases.

RCon 2026: collaboration will be critical to recycling's next chapter. As the industry looks toward 2030, the future of recycling will depend on how well brands, municipalities, haulers, recyclers, end markets, and consumers work together to build a system that can move materials efficiently from the products people buy to the products made from recovered materials. September 30, 2026 Recycling doesn't start at the curb, and it doesn't end at the MRF. As the industry looks toward 2030, the future of recycling will depend on how well brands, municipalities, haulers, recyclers, end markets, and consumers work together to build a system that can move materials efficiently from the products people buy to the products made from recovered materials. That was a central theme during the opening panel at RCon 2026, where Jeff Bezzo, executive director of Plastics and Packaging Sustainability at SC Johnson, moderated a discussion with Jeff Fielkow, CEO of Circular Action Alliance (CAA); Mo McReynolds, director of the Office of Sustainability for the City of Indianapolis; and Ryan Nordt, executive director of Recycling Operations at WM. For Nordt, the future means thinking about recycling differently. "The waste stream becomes less of a waste stream and more of a material supply chain," Nordt said. WM has invested approximately $1.4 billion across 39 projects over the past five years, adding 2.8 million tons of recycling capacity and expanding access for residents, Nordt said. Those investments include a recycling facility in Indianapolis, which is preparing to launch a universal curbside recycling system in the first quarter of 2028. For McReynolds, the Indianapolis experience illustrates the importance of public-private partnerships. "Public-private partnerships couldn't be more important to us," McReynolds said. But building the infrastructure is only part of the challenge. Residents still need to understand how to use it. "They don't care about EPR. They don't care about the particular plastic makeup. They care about, 'does this go here?'" McReynolds said. That simplicity will become increasingly important as communities work to increase participation and reduce contamination. Fielkow said access and education are two of the biggest drivers of behavior change. CAA is taking a more data-driven approach to consumer education and outreach, he said, working with municipalities, haulers and producers to better understand how to change recycling behavior. The goal isn't simply to get more material into the recycling bin. It's to get the right material into the bin. "It's really important that we don't wish cycle," Fielkow said. Nordt pointed to batteries as one example of where consumer education can have an immediate impact. WM has invested in fire detection and prevention technology at its facilities, but Nordt said preventing batteries from entering the waste stream in the first place is even more important. That requires meeting consumers with a simple message. WM's "Recycle Right" approach focuses on basic guidance for bottles, cans, cups, tubs, paper and cardboard, while also emphasizing that batteries belong in neither the recycling nor trash stream. The same collaborative approach is helping expand recycling for materials such as polypropylene and paper cups. Nordt highlighted work involving WM, the Recycling Partnership, Starbucks and Closed Loop Partners that has expanded access to recycling for those materials. For brands, Bezzo said the collaboration needs to extend directly into recycling facilities. "Bring your packaging engineers and everybody involved in packaging to MRFs on a regular basis, just so you really understand what's happening there," Bezzo said. That firsthand experience can help connect decisions made at the product-design stage with what actually happens once packaging reaches a MRF. Ultimately, the panelists agreed that no single part of the recycling system can solve its challenges alone. Producers need to understand the system. Municipalities need effective partnerships. Recyclers need reliable end markets. And residents need clear, consistent information about what belongs in the bin. Fielkow said the industry is already seeing signs that the pieces are coming together. "Producers are showing up. They're engaged," he said. "The haulers, the recyclers, and the programs we work with, I was expecting and anticipating resistance, [but] they're leaning in." For an industry looking toward 2030, that collaboration may be one of its most important resources. Content Producer, Waste360 Gage Edwards is a Content Producer for Waste360.com and the host of the Waste World podcast. Gage serves as a content strategist and digital media creator specializing in storytelling across trade shows and industry events such as WasteExpo, WWETT, GWMS, CES, E3, PAX, TISE, World of Concrete, and more. Gage has spent more than a decade creating articles, videos, and podcasts, while hosting live events, including Waste360's 40 Under 40 Awards. Join a network of more than 90,000 waste and recycling industry professionals. Get the latest news and insights straight to your inbox. Add Waste360 as your preferred source to get quicker access to the news you trust.