Waste Management Inc (WM) Q4 2019 Earnings Call Transcript

Waste Management Inc (WM) Q4 2019 Earnings Call Transcript

With me this morning are Jim Fish, President and Chief Executive Officer; John Morris, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer and Devina Rankin, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.. To hear a replay of the call over the Internet access the Waste Management website at www.wm.com.. The results are evident in our full-year top line growth, which was 3.6% despite a negative $318 million drag from commodity prices in our recycling line of business and a negative $23 million swing from the sale of renewable energy credits.. Landfill pricing was one of the bright spots in 2019 and is also a great example of what the Waste Management organization can achieve when we have a shared focus.. But we won't just focus on MSW pricing, we're pricing all our lines of business to ensure that we generate appropriate returns on invested capital, including our recycling and residential lines of business.. In 2019, our overall operating EBITDA grew by 4% despite lower than expected market prices for recycled commodities and renewable energy credits.. We expect that our differentiated service offerings will result in additional jobs throughout this year.. We allocated more than $1.1 billion of that free cash flow