Republic Services Inc (RSG) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and welcome to the Republic Services Second Quarter 2023 Investor Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note, this event is being recorded.

下午好，歡迎參加 Republic Services 2023 年第二季度投資者電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，正在記錄此事件。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Aaron Evans, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

我現在想將會議交給投資者關係副總裁亞倫·埃文斯 (Aaron Evans)。請繼續。

I would like to welcome everyone to Republic Services' Second Quarter 2023 Conference Call. Jon Vander Ark, our CEO; and Brian DelGhiaccio, our CFO, are joining me as we discuss our performance.

我謹歡迎大家參加 Republic Services 2023 年第二季度電話會議。喬恩·范德·阿克 (Jon Vander Ark)，我們的首席執行官；我們的首席財務官 Brian DelGhiaccio 正在和我一起討論我們的業績。

I would like to take a moment to remind everyone that some of the information we discuss on today's call contains forward-looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties and may be materially different from actual results. Our SEC filings discuss factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The material that we discuss today is time sensitive. If, in the future, you listen to a rebroadcast or recording of this conference call, you should be sensitive to the date of the original call, which is July 31, 2023.

我想花點時間提醒大家，我們在今天的電話會議中討論的一些信息包含前瞻性陳述，其中涉及風險和不確定性，可能與實際結果存在重大差異。我們向 SEC 提交的文件討論了可能導致實際結果與預期存在重大差異的因素。我們今天討論的材料具有時間敏感性。如果您將來收聽本次電話會議的重播或錄音，您應該留意原始電話會議的日期，即 2023 年 7 月 31 日。

Please note that this call is property of Republic Services, Inc. Any redistribution, retransmission or rebroadcast of this call in any form without the express written consent of Republic Services is strictly prohibited.

請注意，本次通話屬於 Republic Services, Inc. 的財產。未經 Republic Services 明確書面同意，嚴禁以任何形式重新分發、轉播或轉播本次通話。

I want to point out that our SEC filings; our earnings press release, which includes GAAP reconciliation tables and a discussion of business activities; along with a recording of this call, are available on the Republic's website at republicservices.com. I want to remind you that Republic's management team routinely participates in investor conferences. When events are scheduled, the dates, times and presentations are posted on our website.

我想指出的是，我們向 SEC 提交的文件；我們的收益新聞稿，其中包括 GAAP 調節表和對業務活動的討論；以及本次通話的錄音，可在 Republic 網站 Republicservices.com 上獲取。我想提醒您的是，Republic 的管理團隊定期參加投資者會議。安排活動後，日期、時間和演示會發佈在我們的網站上。

With that, I would like to turn the call over to Jon.

有了這個，我想把電話轉給喬恩。

Thanks, Aaron. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Our strong second quarter results demonstrate the value created by our differentiated capabilities and the execution of our strategic priorities. We continue to successfully grow our business, both organically and through acquisitions while enhancing profitability. During the quarter, we delivered revenue growth of 9%, including more than 4% from acquisitions. Generated adjusted EBITDA growth of 10.5%, expanded EBITDA margin by 40 basis points, reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.41 and produced $1.26 billion of adjusted free cash flow on a year-to-date basis, a 10% increase over the prior year.

謝謝，亞倫。大家下午好，感謝您加入我們。我們強勁的第二季度業績證明了我們的差異化能力和戰略重點的執行所創造的價值。我們繼續通過有機方式和收購成功發展我們的業務，同時提高盈利能力。本季度，我們的收入增長了 9%，其中超過 4% 來自收購。調整後 EBITDA 增長 10.5%，EBITDA 利潤率擴大 40 個基點，調整後每股收益為 1.41 美元，年初至今產生 12.6 億美元調整後自由現金流，比上年增長 10%。

We continue to effectively allocate capital by investing in acquisitions to create long-term value. Year-to-date, we invested $927 million of acquisitions. All transactions were in the Recycling & Solid Waste space, including the acquisition of assets in Colorado and New Mexico from GFL. The M&A environment remains active with opportunities in both the Recycling & Solid Waste and Environmental Solutions businesses. We now expect investment in value-creating acquisitions to exceed $1 billion for the year.

我們繼續通過投資收購來有效配置資本，以創造長期價值。今年迄今為止，我們投資了 9.27 億美元進行收購。所有交易均發生在回收和固體廢物領域，包括從 GFL 收購科羅拉多州和新墨西哥州的資產。併購環境依然活躍，回收和固體廢物以及環境解決方案業務領域都有機會。我們現在預計今年創造價值的收購投資將超過 10 億美元。

We are making great progress on the integration of US Ecology and increasing the profitability of our Environmental Solutions business. Pricing realization in this business remains strong. Customers value our complete set of products and services. We have achieved over $110 million in new sales to date as a result of cross-selling our products and services. The sales pipeline is robust with opportunities for organic growth and expansion of services within our existing customer base. We achieved more than $40 million of annualized cost synergies and EBITDA margin in the Environmental Solutions business improved to more than 22% in the quarter.

我們在整合美國生態和提高環境解決方案業務的盈利能力方面取得了巨大進展。該業務的定價實現依然強勁。客戶重視我們的全套產品和服務。迄今為止，由於交叉銷售我們的產品和服務，我們已實現了超過 1.1 億美元的新銷售額。銷售渠道強勁，有機會在現有客戶群中實現有機增長和擴展服務。本季度，我們環境解決方案業務的年化成本協同效應超過 4000 萬美元，EBITDA 利潤率提高至 22% 以上。

The strong results we achieved through the first half of the year, along with the positive momentum in our business, supports a full year financial outlook that exceeds our original expectations. We now expect revenue in a range of $14.775 billion to $14.85 billion, adjusted EBITDA in a range of $4.34 billion to $4.36 billion, adjusted earnings per share in a range of $5.33 to $5.38 and adjusted free cash flow in a range of $1.9 billion to $1.925 billion.

我們上半年取得的強勁業績以及業務的積極勢頭支持全年財務前景超出我們最初的預期。我們目前預計收入在 147.75 億美元至 148.5 億美元之間，調整後 EBITDA 在 43.4 億美元至 43.6 億美元之間，調整後每股收益在 5.33 美元至 5.38 美元之間，調整後自由現金流在 19 億美元至 1.925 美元之間十億。

Our updated financial guidance includes the contribution from acquisitions closed through June 30. The results we are delivering are made possible by executing our strategy, supported by our differentiated capabilities, customer zeal, digital and sustainability.

我們更新的財務指引包括截至 6 月 30 日完成的收購的貢獻。我們所交付的成果是通過執行我們的戰略、在我們的差異化能力、客戶熱情、數字化和可持續性的支持下實現的。

Regarding customer zeal. Our efforts to deliver industry-leading service continues to drive sustained customer loyalty and organic growth. Our customer retention rate remained over 94%, and we continue to see positive trends in our Net Promoter Score supported by improved service delivery. Organic revenue growth remained strong during the quarter and simultaneously increases in both price and volume. Core price on related revenue was 8.8% and average yield on related revenue was 7.1%. This includes landfill MSW yield of 6.2%, this is the highest level performance in company history in this category.

關於客戶熱情。我們致力於提供行業領先的服務，繼續推動持續的客戶忠誠度和有機增長。我們的客戶保留率保持在 94% 以上，並且我們繼續看到在改進的服務交付的支持下，我們的淨推薦值呈現出積極的趨勢。本季度有機收入增長依然強勁，價格和銷量同時增長。相關收入核心價格為8.8%，相關收入平均收益率為7.1%。其中垃圾填埋場垃圾產量為 6.2%，這是該類別公司歷史上的最高水平表現。

Organic volume growth on related revenue was 50 basis points. Turning to digital. We have reached a milestone in our efforts to create digital tools to enhance our customers' and employees' experience and deliver meaningful financial benefits. The deployment of RISE tablets in our Recycling & Solid Waste collection business was completed during the second quarter. The next phase of our digital operations is expected to drive additional productivity savings through route adherence, improved safety performance, and provide more predictable service delivery for our customers. In total, we believe the benefits of our digital initiatives are worth approximately $100 million with $50 million already achieved and $50 million to be captured over the next 3 years.

相關收入的有機銷量增長為 50 個基點。轉向數字化。我們在創建數字工具以增強客戶和員工的體驗並提供有意義的財務收益方面已經達到了一個里程碑。 RISE 平板電腦在我們的回收和固體廢物收集業務中的部署已於第二季度完成。我們數字化運營的下一階段預計將通過遵守路線、提高安全性能並為客戶提供更可預測的服務交付來進一步節省生產力。總的來說，我們相信我們的數字化舉措的收益約為 1 億美元，其中已經實現了 5,000 萬美元，未來 3 年將獲得 5,000 萬美元。

Moving on to sustainability. We continue to invest in differentiating capabilities to leverage sustainability as a platform for profitable growth. Earlier today, we announced a joint venture with Ravago called Blue Polymers. This groundbreaking partnership further supports our efforts to lead in plastic circularity. Blue Polymers will utilize recycled olefins for our polymer centers to create blended pellets for use in manufacturing sustainable packaging. We expect to open 4 facilities beginning in late 2024 with earning contribution beginning in 2026.

轉向可持續發展。我們繼續投資於差異化能力，利用可持續發展作為盈利增長的平台。今天早些時候，我們宣布與 Ravago 成立一家名為 Blue Polymers 的合資企業。這一開創性的合作夥伴關係進一步支持我們引領塑料循環的努力。 Blue Polymers 將在我們的聚合物中心利用回收的烯烴來製造混合顆粒，用於製造可持續包裝。我們預計將於 2024 年底開始開設 4 家工廠，並於 2026 年開始盈利。

Development of our polymer centers in Las Vegas and the Midwest remain on track with the centers becoming operational in late '23 and late '24, respectively. Demand for recycled plastics remains strong as the consumer goods industry continues to work toward achieving their sustainability goals. For example, we are partnering with the Coca-Cola Company to supply recycled PET from our polymer centers for use in sustainable packaging. The 57 renewable natural gas projects being codeveloped with our partners are advancing. We expect 4 of these projects to be operational by the end of the third quarter.

我們在拉斯維加斯和中西部的聚合物中心的開發仍按計劃進行，這些中心分別於 2023 年末和 24 年末投入運營。隨著消費品行業繼續努力實現其可持續發展目標，對再生塑料的需求仍然強勁。例如，我們與可口可樂公司合作，從我們的聚合物中心供應回收的 PET，用於可持續包裝。與合作夥伴共同開發的57個可再生天然氣項目正在穩步推進。我們預計其中 4 個項目將在第三季度末投入運營。

Finally, we continue to believe that creating a more sustainable world is our responsibility and a platform for growth. We recently published our latest Sustainability Report, highlighting the progress we are making on our 2030 goals. These goals are supported by investments we are making in polymer centers, the Blue Polymers joint venture, renewable natural gas projects and fleet electrification.

最後，我們仍然相信創造一個更加可持續的世界是我們的責任和增長的平台。我們最近發布了最新的可持續發展報告，強調了我們在實現 2030 年目標方面所取得的進展。這些目標得到了我們在聚合物中心、Blue Polymers 合資企業、可再生天然氣項目和車隊電氣化方面的投資的支持。

I will now turn the call over to Brian, who will provide details for the quarter.

我現在將把電話轉給布萊恩，他將提供本季度的詳細信息。

Thanks, Jon. Core price on total revenue was 7.3%. Core price on related revenue was 8.8%, which included open market pricing of 11% and restricted pricing of 5.3%. The components of core price on related revenue included small container of 12.3%, large container of 8.8% and residential of 8.3%. Average yield on total revenue was 5.9%, and average yield on related revenue was 7.1%. We continue to price new and existing business ahead of cost inflation to drive margin expansion in the underlying business.

謝謝，喬恩。核心價格佔總收入的7.3%。相關收入的核心價格為8.8%，其中公開市場定價為11%，限制性定價為5.3%。相關收入核心價格的組成部分包括小型集裝箱佔12.3%，大型集裝箱佔8.8%，住宅佔8.3%。總收入平均收益率為5.9%，相關收入平均收益率為7.1%。我們繼續在成本上漲之前對新業務和現有業務進行定價，以推動基礎業務的利潤率擴張。

Volume on total revenue increased 40 basis points while volume on related revenue increased 50 basis points. The components of volume on related revenue included an increase in small container of 1.4%, an increase in residential of 80 basis points, and an increase in landfill of 3.7%. Landfill was primarily driven by an 8.3% increase in special waste revenue. Volume growth was partially offset by a decrease in large container of 1.3%, primarily due to a slowdown in construction-related activity.

總收入增長 40 個基點，相關收入增長 50 個基點。相關收入量的組成部分包括小型集裝箱增長 1.4%、住宅增長 80 個基點以及垃圾填埋場增長 3.7%。垃圾填埋場主要受到特殊廢物收入增長 8.3% 的推動。大型集裝箱數量下降 1.3%，部分抵消了銷量增長，這主要是由於建築相關活動放緩。

Moving on to recycling. Commodity prices were $119 per ton during the quarter. This compared to $218 per ton in the prior year. Recycling processing and commodity sales decreased revenue by 1.1% during the quarter. Current commodity prices are approximately $115 per ton. We believe commodity prices will remain relatively flat with current levels in the second half of the year. And we now expect average recycled commodity prices in a range of $110 to $115 per ton for the full year.

繼續回收。本季度商品價格為每噸 119 美元。相比之下，去年的價格為每噸 218 美元。本季度回收加工和商品銷售收入下降 1.1%。目前商品價格約為每噸 115 美元。我們認為下半年大宗商品價格將與當前水平保持相對平穩。我們現在預計全年回收商品的平均價格在每噸 110 美元至 115 美元之間。

Next, turning to our Environmental Solutions business. Second quarter Environmental Solutions revenue increased $104 million over the prior year, which primarily relates to the acquisition of US Ecology. On a same-store basis, Environmental Solutions contributed 20 basis points to internal growth during the quarter. Adjusted EBITDA margin for the Environmental Solutions business was 22.5%, a sequential increase of more than 150 basis points. Total company adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 40 basis points to 30% during the quarter. Margin performance included a 50 basis point decrease from recycled commodity prices and a 30 basis point decrease from acquisitions, which was fully overcome by a 100 basis point increase from net fuel and margin expansion in the underlying business of 20 basis points.

接下來，轉向我們的環境解決方案業務。第二季度環境解決方案收入比上年增加1.04億美元，這主要與收購US Ecology有關。按同店計算，環境解決方案在本季度為內部增長貢獻了 20 個基點。環境解決方案業務的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 22.5%，環比增長超過 150 個基點。本季度公司調整後 EBITDA 利潤率總額擴大了 40 個基點，達到 30%。利潤率表現包括回收商品價格下降 50 個基點和收購下降 30 個基點，但淨燃料增長 100 個基點和基礎業務利潤率擴張 20 個基點完全克服了這一點。

Year-to-date, adjusted free cash flow was $1.26 billion. Our performance through the first half benefited from the timing of capital expenditures and cash taxes. Year-to-date capital expenditures of $550 million represents 33% of our projected full year spend and year-to-date adjusted cash taxes of $99 million represents 40% of our projected full year spend. Total debt was $12.2 billion, and total liquidity was $2.1 billion. Our leverage ratio at the end of the quarter returned to approximately 3x.

年初至今，調整後自由現金流為 12.6 億美元。我們上半年的業績得益於資本支出和現金稅的時機。年初至今的資本支出為 5.5 億美元，占我們預計全年支出的 33%，年初至今調整後的現金稅為 9900 萬美元，占我們預計全年支出的 40%。債務總額為 122 億美元，流動資金總額為 21 億美元。本季度末我們的槓桿率恢復到約 3 倍。

With respect to taxes, our combined tax rate and effects from solar investments resulted in an equivalent tax impact of 26.8% during the second quarter, which was in line with our expectations. We expect an equivalent tax impact of 25% in the second half of the year resulting in a full year equivalent tax impact of approximately 25.5%.

在稅收方面，我們的綜合稅率和太陽能投資的影響導致第二季度的稅收影響達到 26.8%，這符合我們的預期。我們預計下半年等效稅收影響為 25%，全年等效稅收影響約為 25.5%。

With that, operator, I would like to open the call to questions.

接線員，我想開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from Bryan Burgmeier of Citi.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Bryan Burgmeier。

On the Blue Polymer announcement this morning, is that something that's already captured in the pro forma earnings from polymer centers that you've spoken about previously? Or is this going to be incremental? And if it is incremental, could you give us a sense of the potential earnings impact?

關於今天早上藍色聚合物的公告，這是否已經包含在您之前談到的聚合物中心的預計收益中？或者這會是增量的？如果是增量的，您能否讓我們了解一下潛在的盈利影響？

No, it's incremental. So think about that polymer center producing 2 things, PET on one side and olefins on the other side. The PET, we take into a flight, basically, a hot wash Queen flake that's food grade that can go right back into water bottle manufacturing or other types of PET applications. On the olefins, it takes a slightly different path. So we sort, get full collection of that olefins and then we feed the polymer center. So this basically guarantees the demand on the back end of our polymer center for the olefin side of it.

不，它是增量的。因此，考慮一下聚合物中心生產兩種物質，一側是 PET，另一側是烯烴。我們帶上飛機的 PET 基本上是一種食品級的熱洗皇后片，可以直接用於水瓶製造或其他類型的 PET 應用。對於烯烴，則採取了略有不同的路徑。因此，我們進行分類，充分收集烯烴，然後將其送入聚合物中心。所以這基本上保證了我們聚合物中心後端對烯烴側的需求。

And then Ravago was world-class at compounding and blending olefins to create unique products. And so that's why we partnered with them. We think we can provide the right applications to the market. We get to participate -- not only do we get the supply, so it's a supply agreement on one side, we get to participate in the benefit and the upside as a 45% minority JV partner.

然後，Ravago 在合成和混合烯烴以創造獨特的產品方面處於世界一流水平。這就是我們與他們合作的原因。我們認為我們可以向市場提供正確的應用程序。我們可以參與——我們不僅獲得供應，所以它一方面是一份供應協議，我們可以作為持有 45% 少數股權的合資夥伴參與利益和上行空間。

Yes. From an economics perspective, we look at our equity pickup, that one line pickup, beginning in '26 2 centers somewhat contributing in that year with about $15 million. So you can think $7 million to $8 million per center. And then getting $7 million to $8 million incremental in both '27 and '28. Ultimately, we see $30 million to $32 million worth of EBITDA for all 4 at run rate in 2029.

是的。從經濟學的角度來看，我們著眼於我們的股本回升，即從 26 年開始的一條線回升，2 個中心在那一年做出了約 1500 萬美元的貢獻。因此，您可以認為每個中心花費 700 萬至 800 萬美元。然後在 27 年和 28 年增加 700 萬至 800 萬美元。最終，我們預計 2029 年這四家公司的 EBITDA 價值將達到 3000 萬至 3200 萬美元。

And if I can just maybe follow up on the recycling business. I think your filings say your volume is about 80% fiber. Once the polymer centers are online, do you think that 80% fiber exposure drops a bit? Or is there may be a different way we should start to think about value versus volume?

如果我能跟進回收業務的話。我認為您的文件顯示您的體積約為 80% 是纖維。一旦聚合物中心上線，您認為 80% 的纖維暴露會下降一點嗎？或者我們應該以不同的方式開始考慮價值與數量？

Yes. Look, initially, it won't drop much, at least from a volume standpoint, because what we're really doing with polymer center is taking things that are down cycle today and some material along the way in that down cycling is lost and landfilled to get full volume recovery out of that plastic and get much higher yield because they're driving true circularity.

是的。看，最初，它不會下降太多，至少從數量的角度來看，因為我們真正對聚合物中心所做的事情是採取今天處於下行循環的東西，並且沿下行循環的一些材料會丟失並填埋充分回收塑料並獲得更高的產量，因為它們正在推動真正的循環。

Now these polymer centers are built actually to take third-party product over time. So over time, we'll flow third-party product in there. That will put more plastic into the system and then dilute the fiber percentage right at a certain level, but you're probably talking more like going from 80 to 75 versus a major change in the mix.

現在，這些聚合物中心實際上是為了隨著時間的推移而採用第三方產品的。因此，隨著時間的推移，我們將在那裡引入第三方產品。這將在系統中加入更多的塑料，然後將纖維百分比稀釋到一定水平，但您可能更多地談論的是從 80 到 75，而不是混合物的重大變化。

Your next question comes from Toni Kaplan of Morgan Stanley.

你的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的托尼·卡普蘭。

You mentioned a couple of comments on volume, and I was just wondering if volume was sort of in line with what you were expecting or if it was a little bit lighter. And I know you mentioned the construction activity and the special waste was something mentioned by one of your competitors is slowing. I know here, you got the 8.3% increase in special waste revenue. But just anything on volume trends and where things are above or below what you were expecting and how you think for the rest of the year?

您提到了一些關於成交量的評論，我只是想知道成交量是否符合您的預期，或者是否稍微輕一些。我知道您提到了建築活動，而您的一位競爭對手提到特殊廢物正在放緩。我知道，特殊垃圾收入增加了 8.3%。但是，關於成交量趨勢的任何信息，以及哪些情況高於或低於您的預期，以及您對今年剩餘時間的看法？

Yes. I'd say broadly kind of in line with expectation, probably slightly ahead in certain areas. So construction, we anticipated that being down. We saw residential and commercial starts obviously start to soften the second half of last year. And there's a lag effect as we have jobs that are getting completed. And so we're down 3.8%, but we have really strong pricing there. So we've taken the opportunity there to stay disciplined on price and making sure that we're getting a positive mix even in that environment.

是的。我想說，大致符合預期，在某些領域可能稍微領先。因此，我們預計建設會下降。我們看到去年下半年住宅和商業開工明顯開始疲軟。由於我們有工作即將完成，因此存在滯後效應。因此我們下降了 3.8%，但我們的定價非常強勁。因此，我們藉此機會保持價格紀律，並確保即使在這種環境下我們也能獲得積極的組合。

And then other special waste, right, is attractive. Part of that special waste clearly is our cross-sell initiatives with the US Ecology acquisition. But we have now a unique offering in the marketplace, and we're seeing customers demand to that unique offering. So that's certainly helping us. Small container was a bright spot, right, in terms of volume growth for the quarter. So I feel really good about that as well. And again, I'd say broadly in line with what we expected.

然後其他特殊廢物也很有吸引力。這種特殊浪費的一部分顯然是我們與 US Ecology 收購的交叉銷售舉措。但我們現在在市場上擁有獨特的產品，並且我們看到客戶對這種獨特產品的需求。所以這肯定對我們有幫助。就本季度的銷量增長而言，小型集裝箱是一個亮點，對吧。所以我對此也感覺很好。再說一遍，我想說大致符合我們的預期。

Yes. And Toni, if you remember, in our original guidance, the range on volume was 50 basis points to 1% positive. And now we're thinking it's at that -- still within the range, but at the lower end. But at the same time, we increased our guidance on average yields, right? So the flow-through and the contribution of a 50 basis point increase on yield is much more significant to the enterprise in our results than the 50 basis point decrease on the volume side.

是的。托尼，如果你還記得的話，在我們最初的指導中，成交量的範圍是 50 個基點到 1% 的正數。現在我們認為它仍然在該範圍內，但處於較低端。但與此同時，我們提高了對平均收益率的指導，對嗎？因此，在我們的業績中，收益率增加50個基點的流量和貢獻對於企業來說比數量方面的50個基點下降要重要得多。

And then you mentioned the partnership with Coca-Cola. Can you talk about potential impacts from that? It might be a little bit longer term, but just any thoughts on how to quantify how you're thinking about that partnership and the benefits to you?

然後你提到了與可口可樂的合作關係。您能談談這可能產生的影響嗎？這可能是一個更長的期限，但是關於如何量化您對這種夥伴關係的看法以及給您帶來的好處，您有什麼想法嗎？

Yes, Coca-Cola has been a great partner. I would say this, demand for our product out of the polymer center outstrip supply by a lot, right? So we were able to talk to a number of parties. We could have sold the Las Vegas center out 3 or 4 times over without challenges because the market is so short supplied for this type of ARPA that's food grade. And we're taking it right now, the single site over time, we'll take the Midwest side. And then these partnerships will evolve, and I'm certain they'll grow, right, as we expand the network, but that's all we're disclosing at this point.

是的，可口可樂一直是一個很好的合作夥伴。我想說的是，聚合物中心對我們產品的需求遠遠超過供應，對嗎？因此我們能夠與多方進行交談。我們本可以毫無困難地將拉斯維加斯中心出售 3 或 4 倍，因為市場上此類食品級 ARPA 的供應非常短缺。我們現在正在採取這一點，隨著時間的推移，我們將採取中西部一側。然後這些合作夥伴關係將會發展，我確信隨著我們網絡的擴展，它們也會發展，但這就是我們目前所披露的全部內容。

The next question comes from Tyler Brown of Raymond James.

下一個問題來自雷蒙德·詹姆斯的泰勒·布朗。

Brian, just real quick from a modeling perspective, what is the expected contribution from M&A in the new revenue guidance? I think it was supposed to be maybe a 3% contributor coming into the year. Is it may be closer to 3.5% to 4%? And then how much rolls into '24 based on what we know today?

Brian，從建模的角度來看，併購對新收入指導的預期貢獻是多少？我認為今年的貢獻率應該是 3%。是否可能更接近3.5%至4%？那麼根據我們今天所知，到 24 世紀會有多少呢？

Yes. So the in-year contribution rollover from '22 transactions as well as the in-year impact from '23 transactions, we're thinking 4.25%, right? And the rollover impact into '24, right, from the deals that were completed in '23, we think adds 50 basis points to our '24 revenue growth.

是的。因此，'22 交易的年內貢獻展期以及 '23 交易的年內影響，我們認為是 4.25%，對吧？我們認為，從 23 年完成的交易到 24 年的展期影響，我們認為這將為我們 24 年的收入增長增加 50 個基點。

And then -- so I just kind of want to think about the EBITDA a little bit. So it looks like you raised EBITDA by, call it, $50 million. But if I'm not mistaken, you actually lowered your commodity assumption, but then you added in some M&A. So basically, I'm trying to bridge that change. How much of the EBITDA change was basically core versus some other moving pieces, if that makes sense at all.

然後——所以我想稍微考慮一下 EBITDA。所以看起來你的 EBITDA 增加了 5000 萬美元。但如果我沒記錯的話，您實際上降低了商品假設，但隨後又增加了一些併購。所以基本上，我正在努力彌合這種變化。與其他一些變動因素相比，EBITDA 的變化有多少基本上是核心的，如果這有意義的話。

Yes. Let me answer the question. The short story is that the entire increase is essentially the underlying business. So let me go through some of the puts and takes. So to your point, right, we've added EBITDA associated with acquisitions, but most of those acquisitions were completed midyear. So you're going to half the contribution. We've also got deal and integration costs. Two of these deals require regulatory filings, so we had heavy legal costs. We also have a fairly significant integration costs just because one of those deals requires that we re-brand the trucks within the first 6 months.

是的。讓我來回答這個問題。簡而言之，整個增長本質上是基礎業務。那麼讓我來回顧一下一些投入和採取的事情。因此，就您的觀點而言，我們已經添加了與收購相關的 EBITDA，但大多數收購都是在年中完成的。所以你要貢獻一半。我們還有交易和整合成本。其中兩筆交易需要監管備案，因此我們承擔了高昂的法律費用。我們的整合成本也相當高，因為其中一項交易要求我們在前 6 個月內重新品牌卡車。

So the contributions from acquisitions in here is still positive, but it's somewhat muted. To your point, that's been further offset by the reduction in recycled commodity prices. So if you think about taking all those things I just mentioned relative to our original guide, it's a relative push. The $50 million increase in EBITDA at the midpoint is essentially the increase in price flowing through to the bottom line.

因此，這裡的收購貢獻仍然是積極的，但有些微弱。就您而言，回收商品價格的下降進一步抵消了這一影響。因此，如果您考慮將我剛才提到的所有這些內容與我們最初的指南相關，那麼這是一個相對的推動。 EBITDA 中點增加 5000 萬美元，本質上是流向利潤的價格上漲。

Perfect. Okay. That's what I thought. Just real quick on the last one here. So if we just exclude Blue Polymer and we just look at the Vegas facility, what is the expected EBITDA impact of that facility in '24? And then how dependent will it be on recycled plastic prices because we have seen some weakness there recently. And basically, sorry, does this Blue Polymer JV, does it kind of inoculate that offtake risk longer term? Am I thinking about all that right?

完美的。好的。我也這麼想。快點看這裡的最後一個。因此，如果我們只排除 Blue Polymer，只關注維加斯工廠，那麼該工廠在 24 年的預期 EBITDA 影響是多少？然後它對再生塑料價格的依賴程度如何，因為我們最近看到了再生塑料價格的一些疲軟。基本上，抱歉，這家藍色聚合物合資企業是否可以預防長期承購風險？我想得對嗎？

Yes. Let me go ahead and start. You had a couple of questions there, so we'll kind of unpack some of those. So the expected contribution from just the polymer center, right, so this is the one in Vegas in '24 is $15 million, right, of EBITDA contribution in '24. You can then think of about an incremental $20 million per year thereafter, right, as we bring other centers online, ultimately getting to about $80 million worth of EBITDA at run rate in 2028.

是的。讓我開始吧。您有幾個問題，所以我們將解答其中一些問題。因此，僅聚合物中心的預期貢獻（對，這是 24 年拉斯維加斯的一個）是 1500 萬美元，對，24 年的 EBITDA 貢獻。然後，您可以想像此後每年會增加 2000 萬美元，對吧，因為我們將其他中心上線，最終在 2028 年按運行速度實現價值約 8000 萬美元的 EBITDA。

To your other point, right, on the Blue Polymers, yes, we are going to be selling all of the olefins coming out of the polymer center 2, the Blue Polymers JV, right? So -- and when you start thinking about the offtake agreement there that guarantees, right, a contractual rate for all of those units leaving Blue Polymers on the olefin side -- or I'm sorry, polymer center on the olefin side.

至於你的另一點，對，關於藍色聚合物，是的，我們將出售來自聚合物中心 2（藍色聚合物合資企業）的所有烯烴，對吧？所以——當你開始考慮那裡的承購協議時，它保證了所有這些單位的合同價格，將藍色聚合物留在烯烴方面——或者對不起，聚合物中心在烯烴方面。

Okay. Perfect. So it kind of helps inoculate the offtake longer term, if I read it right.

好的。完美的。因此，如果我沒理解錯的話，這有助於為長期承購做好準備。

Yes. Correct.

是的。正確的。

The next question comes from Jerry Revich of Goldman Sachs.

下一個問題來自高盛的傑里·雷維奇。

Jon, I'm wondering if you could just expand on comments you recently made to the Wall Street Journal. You spoke about having visibility on double-digit top line growth here in the medium term. I'm wondering if you could just unpack what gives visibility on that between polymer, M&A yield, other moving pieces? And in that type of top line environment, do you think you can still deliver the 2x leverage between revenue and earnings that Republic has done over the past decade?

喬恩，我想知道您是否可以詳細闡述您最近對《華爾街日報》發表的評論。您談到了在中期實現兩位數營收增長的可見性。我想知道您是否可以解開聚合物、併購收益率和其他移動部分之間的可見性？在這種類型的營收環境中，您認為您仍然可以實現 Republic 在過去十年中實現的收入和收益之間的 2 倍槓桿嗎？

Yes. We're certainly starting with price, right? That's always the first component, right? We have to price ahead of our costs. You've seen the organic growth picture. And the underlying solid waste and recycling business is a slow growth business, right? And we expect to grow slightly faster than the market, only slightly because it's a highly contracted market and shares don't move easily. And again, we're always going to stay disciplined on price first.

是的。我們當然是從價格開始的，對吧？這始終是第一個組件，對吧？我們必須在成本之前定價。您已經看到了有機增長的情況。而底層的固廢和回收業務是一個緩慢增長的業務，對嗎？我們預計增長速度將略快於市場，只是略快一些，因為這是一個高度收縮的市場，而且股票不易波動。再說一次，我們始終首先在價格上保持紀律。

As we've expanded into Environmental Solutions, the underlying growth from an organic standpoint is certainly a little stronger. So that's a tailwind. On the growth side, we're doing more M&A than we ever had. It was 6 or 7 years ago, we talked about spending $100 million a year in M&A, right? And then that's been ramped up to $500 million to $700 million, and obviously, we had announced last year the US Ecology acquisition and got to $3 billion. But even outside of US Ecology, it's $800 million of deals outside of US Ecology. And this year, we've said more than $1 billion, and we're already sniffing up against that number. So M&A is certainly contributing.

隨著我們擴展到環境解決方案領域，從有機角度來看，潛在的增長肯定會更加強勁。所以這是順風。在增長方面，我們進行的併購比以往任何時候都多。六七年前，我們談論每年花費1億美元進行併購，對嗎？然後這個數字增加到 5 億到 7 億美元，顯然，我們去年宣布了對 US Ecology 的收購，並達到了 30 億美元。但即使在 US Ecology 之外，US Ecology 之外的交易也達到了 8 億美元。今年，我們已經說過超過 10 億美元，並且我們已經在接近這個數字。所以併購肯定是有貢獻的。

And then our other sustainability investments, right, are nice contributors and probably a little less on the top line in terms of really moving the needle given the scale of the business. But on the bottom line, right, these are kind of high EBITDA margin investment opportunities, very high return. So we feel great about that over time.

然後，我們的其他可持續發展投資，對，是很好的貢獻者，但考慮到業務規模，在真正推動發展方面，可能在營收方面的貢獻要小一些。但歸根結底，這些都是高 EBITDA 利潤率的投資機會，回報非常高。所以隨著時間的推移，我們對此感覺很好。

And Brian, can I ask separately? In the quarter, really strong margin performance. Your COGS per unit were up just 3%. Any -- in terms of lumpy items that contributed to the results in the quarter? Or were the results pretty clean? It sounds like attrition was pretty low, but I'm wondering, were there any other moving pieces that helped margins or costs in the quarter that we should keep in mind before run rating the really strong results?

布萊恩，我可以單獨問一下嗎？本季度，利潤率表現確實強勁。您的每單位銷貨成本僅上漲了 3%。有沒有——就對本季度業績做出貢獻的塊狀項目而言？或者結果很乾淨嗎？聽起來員工流失率相當低，但我想知道，在對真正強勁的業績進行評級之前，我們是否應該牢記其他有助於提高本季度利潤或成本的因素？

Look, I would say there's always some puts and takes. But I would say if you aggregate those from a net number perspective, it was a fairly clean quarter.

聽著，我想說，總是有一些投入和需要。但我想說，如果你從淨值的角度來匯總這些數據，就會發現這是一個相當乾淨的季度。

The next question comes from Michael Hoffman of Stifel.

下一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Michael Hoffman。

Brian, could we walk through a dollar reconciliation of last year's EBITDA to this year's EBITDA on a dollar basis, so not just the aggregate change, the 50, but what are all the puts and takes? Because I think have the sense that we're understating the power of solid waste by just saying 50. This is on the guide. Sorry, I meant the guide.

Brian，我們能否以美元為基礎對去年的 EBITDA 與今年的 EBITDA 進行美元調節，不僅是總變化，即 50，而且還有所有的看跌期權和賣出期權？因為我認為我們僅僅說 50 就低估了固體廢物的威力。這是指南上的內容。抱歉，我指的是指南。

Yes, the guide. So Michael, as I mentioned, I mean, we're not going to get into the individual components of the EBITDA contribution of our acquisitions and other things. But what I can tell you is, as I just said with Tyler on the phone, if you take a look at the in-year acquisition contribution net of those deal and integration costs, right, that is a positive number, which is almost entirely offset by the reduction in recycled commodities. That reduction in recycled commodities is about $15 million to $20 million negative compared to our original expectations.

是的，導遊。因此，邁克爾，正如我提到的，我的意思是，我們不會討論我們的收購和其他事情對 EBITDA 貢獻的各個組成部分。但我可以告訴你的是，正如我剛剛在電話中與泰勒所說的那樣，如果你看一下扣除這些交易和整合成本後的年內收購貢獻，對吧，這是一個正數，幾乎完全是正數。回收商品的減少抵消了這一影響。與我們最初的預期相比，回收商品的減少量約為 1500 萬至 2000 萬美元。

So if you look at guide to guide right at the midpoint, our EBITDA is up $50 million, which is the underlying business made up primarily of relatively higher price. We took our yield from 5.5% on total revenue to 6%. We took it from 6.5% on related to 7%. So that's that 50 basis points as well as just outperformance within the Environmental Solutions business. That's what's contributing, right, to the overall increase in EBITDA.

因此，如果你看看指南的中點，我們的 EBITDA 增加了 5000 萬美元，這是主要由相對較高的價格組成的基礎業務。我們將總收入的收益率從 5.5% 提高到 6%。我們將其從 6.5% 提高到 7%。這就是 50 個基點以及環境解決方案業務的優異表現。這就是 EBITDA 整體增長的貢獻所在。

Could we then talk about Environmental Solutions, and would you talk about the price volume mix there because I think it's important for everybody to see that there's a combination of both in that the pricing of a scarce asset continues.

然後我們可以談談環境解決方案嗎？您能否談談那裡的價格數量組合，因為我認為每個人都必須看到兩者的結合，因為稀缺資產的定價仍在繼續。

Yes, let me start there, Michael. We're working through that. Obviously, it's a little bit like special waste in terms of there's a mix issue that there's a lot of unique products and services. So we haven't nailed yet what we might report externally in terms of price or yield metric there, certainly our aspiration over time, whether that's large parts of the business, like yield per drum or things like that, work through it. But a huge portion of the outperformance there is price. We've taken multiple double-digit price increases, and we will lead from a pricing standpoint. And that's caused a few units to be shed in certain places. So we found the ceiling, but we're unafraid. These are valuable assets, impossible to replicate and customers are valuing what we're offering.

是的，讓我從這裡開始，邁克爾。我們正在解決這個問題。顯然，這有點像特殊廢物，因為存在許多獨特的產品和服務的混合問題。因此，我們還沒有確定我們可能會在價格或產量指標方面向外部​​報告的內容，當然，我們隨著時間的推移的願望，無論是業務的很大一部分，例如每桶產量還是類似的東西，都要解決它。但其出色表現的很大一部分原因在於價格。我們已經進行了多次兩位數的提價，並且我們將從定價的角度領先。這導致某些地方的一些單位被拆除。所以我們找到了天花板，但我們並不害怕。這些都是寶貴的資產，無法複製，客戶非常重視我們所提供的產品。

So we're going to continue to push on that front. And that, also combined with the cross-sell, which is where we're driving a lot of the volume, has been a really good story and picture for that business.

因此，我們將繼續推動這方面的工作。再加上交叉銷售，這是我們推動大量銷量的原因，對於該業務來說，這是一個非常好的故事和圖片。

Yes. I mean just to put some numbers on that, Michael. If you take a look at the Environmental Solutions business, this time last year, was 17.1% EBITDA margin, this quarter, 22.5%. So that 540 basis points of margin improvement is essentially most of that being price driven but also just better overall utilization as well. And we're becoming more efficient, and we're optimizing from a labor perspective. So when we do get those units, not just because of the price alone, but as far as the overall profitability of each one of those jobs, we're just becoming overall more efficient as we have better utilization of the assets and the resources that are providing those services.

是的。我的意思只是提供一些數字，邁克爾。如果你看一下環境解決方案業務，去年這個時候，EBITDA 利潤率為 17.1%，本季度為 22.5%。因此，利潤率提高 540 個基點本質上大部分是由價格驅動的，但也只是更好的整體利用率。我們正在變得更加高效，並且我們正在從勞動力的角度進行優化。因此，當我們確實獲得這些單位時，不僅僅是因為價格，而且就每一項工作的整體盈利能力而言，我們整體上變得更加高效，因為我們可以更好地利用資產和資源正在提供這些服務。

If I could just tease that one thing. We've had negative trends in ISM PMI, we're below 50 on the index. It looks like it's floor bottoming. But is there a positive volume even if I don't get the split, there's positive volume plus a lot of price?

如果我能嘲笑那一件事就好了。 ISM PMI 出現負面趨勢，該指數低於 50。看起來就像是觸底了。但是，即使我沒有獲得分割，是否也會有正的交易量，有正的交易量加上很多價格？

Yes. I think, yes. And so we look at all those indices, too, Michael. And I think what we're not fully accounting for is a lot of the infrastructure spend and the government spending is flowing through. And we're certainly getting a lot of opportunity there.

是的。我想是的。所以我們也關注所有這些指數，邁克爾。我認為我們沒有完全考慮到大量基礎設施支出和政府支出的流動。我們確實在那裡獲得了很多機會。

And I think the other thing, too, Michael, that we're also seeing right now as well is the benefit of the cross-sell. As we said, we've now increased -- or reported more than $110 million in new sales, which is positively impacting both the Environmental Solutions business as well as the Recycling & Solid Waste business. But more of that positively impacting the Environmental Solutions business just because when you take a look at the revenue per customer tends to just be higher than we see in Recycling & Solid Waste.

邁克爾，我認為我們現在也看到的另一件事是交叉銷售的好處。正如我們所說，我們現在的新銷售額已增加或報告超過 1.1 億美元，這對環境解決方案業務以及回收和固體廢物業務產生了積極影響。但更多的是對環境解決方案業務的積極影響，因為當你看一下每個客戶的收入往往會高於我們在回收和固體廢物中看到的收入。

Let me squeeze one more, if I can. You raised price in 4Q, you raised it in 1Q. Did you raise it in 2Q as well?

如果可以的話，讓我再擠一擠。你在第四季度提高了價格，你在第一季度提高了價格。您在第二季度也提出了嗎？

We are actually in the process of raising prices here early in 3Q.

實際上，我們正​​在第三季度初提高價格。

The next question comes from Walter Spracklin of RBC Capital Markets.

下一個問題來自加拿大皇家銀行資本市場的沃爾特·斯普拉克林（Walter Spracklin）。

Just on the volume, good job on growing that volume amid some of your peers seeing it contract a little bit. But I'm just curious as to whether we're hearing a little bit on the price competition from smaller players that are somewhat less disciplined in that regard and some of your peers walking away from that business. Are you seeing any evidence that smaller players are acting a little bit more aggressive here? And do you suspect that this will ultimately translate in either pressure on pricing or on volumes for your business going forward?

就銷量而言，在一些同行看到銷量略有萎縮的情況下，在增加銷量方面做得很好。但我只是好奇我們是否聽說過一些小型企業的價格競爭，這些企業在這方面缺乏紀律，而您的一些同行則放棄了該業務。您是否看到任何證據表明較小的玩家在這裡表現得更加激進？您是否懷疑這最終會轉化為您未來業務的定價或銷量壓力？

No, we haven't seen it. Now again, there's always an ankle biter and a market here or there who's going to take advantage of try to grow volume and figure out pretty quickly, right? That's a tough way to make a business and earn your cost of capital. With a small container, right, 9.5% yield, 1.4% volume. Really, really strong numbers for us this quarter. And that's a place we often see the price competition come in. That's where they try to attack because that's a profitable part of the business and people try to build their business there. They might start out on resi script or start out and temporal off and then they quickly get into that because that's the higher margin stuff. And so we've not seen the market broadly turn into a negative direction at all.

不，我們還沒有看到。現在再說一遍，總有一個咬腳踝的人和一個市場在這里或那裡，他們會利用嘗試增加交易量並很快弄清楚，對吧？這是一種艱難的創業方式並賺取資本成本。使用小容器（右），產率 9.5%，體積 1.4%。本季度我們的數據確實非常強勁。這是我們經常看到價格競爭出現的地方。這就是他們試圖攻擊的地方，因為這是業務中有利可圖的部分，人們試圖在那裡建立自己的業務。他們可能會從 Resi 腳本開始，或者開始暫時關閉，然後他們很快就會進入其中，因為那是利潤更高的東西。因此，我們根本沒有看到市場普遍轉向負面方向。

And the other thing, too, you have to remember is that there are still supply chain constraints on getting new trucks. So in order to sit there into, again, have that type of behavior, you'd have to have capacity in your system or be able to secure a new truck in order to service those new accounts. And we are not seeing those supply chain constraints easing anytime soon.

您還必須記住的另一件事是，購買新卡車仍然存在供應鏈限制。因此，為了再次實現這種行為，您的系統必須有足夠的容量，或者能夠獲得一輛新卡車來為這些新帳戶提供服務。而且我們並沒有看到這些供應鏈限制很快就會緩解。

Right. Being a little bit of a natural limiter there. On the CapEx spend, we saw a few of your competitors, again, increase CapEx a little bit unexpectedly in certain cases. And just curious how you review your CapEx spend is -- and new projects as they develop? Are you -- have you looked at your budget for this year? Is that something you do on an ongoing basis? Is it upcoming? Are you seeing evidence of projects that perhaps weren't on the horizon or perhaps not in your purview that are starting to pop up? Just curious as to, on a time frame, when you might update your CapEx budget based on what projects might -- may or may not have come into the fold.

正確的。在那裡有一點天然的限制器。在資本支出方面，我們再次看到一些競爭對手在某些情況下意外地增加了資本支出。只是好奇您如何審查您的資本支出以及開發的新項目？您是否看過今年的預算？這是你持續做的事情嗎？即將到來嗎？您是否看到了一些可能尚未出現或不在您的職權範圍內的項目正在開始出現的證據？只是好奇，在一個時間範圍內，您何時可以根據哪些項目可能會或可能不會納入其中來更新您的資本支出預算。

Yes. No, we're doing that on an ongoing basis, right? We're looking at opportunities and polymer centers and Blue Polymer are good examples of things that we think if they're value-creating, sustainable investments over time, we're going to make those investments. But we think also about, hey, normal course of business, what is the budget and not having any big CapEx bubble. So in this year, for example, the supply chain is challenged on the truck side. And so we're able to pull forward a little bit of spend on heavy equipment this year and some of that truck spend then will flow into next year. So across the 2 years, it will be relatively balanced.

是的。不，我們正在持續這樣做，對嗎？我們正在尋找機會，聚合物中心和 Blue Polymer 就是很好的例子，我們認為，如果它們是隨著時間的推移創造價值、可持續的投資，我們就會進行這些投資。但我們也會考慮，嘿，正常的業務過程，預算是多少，並且沒有任何大的資本支出泡沫。例如，今年，供應鏈在卡車方面面臨挑戰。因此，我們今年能夠提前一點重型設備的支出，其中一些卡車支出將流入明年。所以從2年來看，會比較平衡。

So there's always a little bit of push, pull on the margin, but we're looking at it all the time. And then thinking about into next year, if there's things that are really value creating, we'll put those into the budget next year. But we're kind of giving you what we see in terms of Blue Polymer and polymer centers in terms of investments outside of that, including the landfill gas energy projects we've already talked about.

因此，總會有一點點的推動、拉動，但我們一直在關注它。然後考慮明年，如果有真正創造價值的事情，我們會將其納入明年的預算。但我們向您提供了我們在藍色聚合物和聚合物中心方面所看到的投資之外的情況，包括我們已經討論過的垃圾填埋氣能源項目。

And if you look in the details of the guidance, when we do the reconciliation of adjusted free cash flow, included in that is a guide for the capital expenditures. And the number that's in there in the revised guide is exactly the same as what we guided back in February.

如果您查看指南的詳細信息，當我們對調整後的自由現金流進行調節時，其中包含資本支出指南。修訂後的指南中的數字與我們二月份指導的數字完全相同。

And last question here is on acquisitions. You had a couple of lumpy -- chunky ones in the quarter. Is it your intention now to digest a little bit as you go into 2024? Or is this something that you think you could keep up a fairly solid clip that even ex those chunkier acquisitions you would have done otherwise?

最後一個問題是關於收購。這個季度有幾個塊狀的——粗塊的。進入 2024 年，您現在打算消化一點嗎？或者你認為你可以保持一個相當穩定的剪輯，即使除了那些你本來會做的更粗的收購？

No, pipeline remains strong, both on the Recycling & Solid Waste and the Environmental Solutions side of the business. We're mindful of not loading up a specific geography, right, if they've done a big deal. We want to make sure that they can digest that and get that operational. But we've got a good pipeline of deals of all sizes, and we look forward to a strong second half and then into '24 as well.

不，在業務的回收和固體廢物以及環境解決方案方面，管道仍然強大。我們注意不要加載特定的地理位置，對吧，如果他們做了大事的話。我們希望確保他們能夠消化這一點並使其投入運行。但我們已經擁有一系列各種規模的交易，我們期待下半年以及 24 年的強勁表現。

The next question comes from Sean Eastman of KeyBanc Capital Markets.

下一個問題來自 KeyBanc Capital Markets 的 Sean Eastman。

So particularly in light of the way the EBITDA guidance raise was framed in terms of that pricing falling through to the bottom line and relative to the comments in response to Michael's question about raising prices successively each quarter. Just in light of those -- with those as context, could you just talk about what you're seeing in the underlying inflation in the business, how those trended through the quarter, how you're responding, how these pricing programs are responding to those trends?

因此，特別是考慮到 EBITDA 指導提高的框架是定價跌至底線，以及相對於邁克爾關於每個季度連續提價的問題的評論。鑑於這些——以這些為背景，您能否談談您在業務中的潛在通脹中看到的情況，整個季度的趨勢如何，您如何應對，這些定價計劃如何應對那些趨勢？

Sure. Yes. Different picture obviously. Labor has been a really good story for us in terms of we brought the turnover down, starting to see that inflation certainly modulate. Maintenance has been a little more of a challenge and it's twofold. Some of it's just the underlying tires or things and true inflation. The other is the challenge of the supply chain, right, while we're growing the business, right, and we're not getting the replacement trucks or the growth trucks we need at the exact clip, that's causing us to drive older trucks, and we're going to do that to service our customer and capture the opportunity. So it's still value creating, but it is going to show up in that maintenance line in terms of older trucks at higher maintenance cost on that front. But we expect broadly all the cost categories, we're starting to see that inflation modulate in the second half of the year. And so we should see pretty good price cost spread throughout the remainder of the year.

當然。是的。明顯不同的圖。工黨對我們來說是一個非常好的故事，因為我們降低了營業額，開始看到通脹肯定會調節。維護是一個更大的挑戰，而且是雙重的。其中一些只是底層輪胎或其他東西以及真正的通貨膨脹。另一個是供應鏈的挑戰，對吧，當我們發展業務時，對吧，我們沒有按時獲得所需的替換卡車或增長卡車，這導致我們駕駛舊卡車，我們將這樣做是為了服務我們的客戶並抓住機會。因此，它仍然可以創造價值，但它將在維護線中以舊卡車的形式出現，維護成本更高。但我們預計所有成本類別都會在今年下半年開始出現通脹調整。因此，我們應該會看到今年剩餘時間裡價格成本分佈相當不錯。

And then maybe taking that a little bit further. The -- just trying to think about the jumping off point for margins into next year, just assuming kind of status quo on some of the commodity-related inputs. I'm trying to think about the typical 30 to 50 basis points. Should we be building that number off of the second half outlook? As much information or thoughts as you can provide on that bridge would be really appreciated.

然後也許更進一步。 - 只是想考慮明年利潤率的起點，只是假設一些與大宗商品相關的投入保持現狀。我正在嘗試考慮典型的 30 到 50 個基點。我們是否應該根據下半年的前景來建立這個數字？如果您能提供有關這座橋的盡可能多的信息或想法，我們將不勝感激。

Yes. Look, we're not providing guidance right now for '24. But again, if you -- when we talk about that kind of 30 to 40 basis points per year, we're doing if off a full year number. So again, if you take a look at the midpoint of the EBITDA and the midpoint of the revenue, you can get a baseline adjusted EBITDA margin and think of it off of that because we're saying this year is a relative -- we're expecting a relatively normal level of seasonality. We always expected it to follow the normal seasonal pattern from a margin profile perspective by quarter. So I think if you look at the full year number, that's a good baseline.

是的。看，我們現在不提供 '24 的指導。但同樣，當我們談論每年 30 到 40 個基點時，我們正在做的是全年數字。再說一次，如果你看一下 EBITDA 的中點和收入的中點，你可以得到一個基線調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率，並據此考慮，因為我們說今年是相對的——我們’我們預計季節性水平相對正常。我們一直預計，從每個季度的利潤狀況來看，它會遵循正常的季節性模式。所以我認為如果你看看全年的數字，這是一個很好的基線。

The next question comes from Lydia Young of Oppenheimer.

下一個問題來自奧本海默的莉迪亞·楊（Lydia Young）。

Sorry, this is Noah Kaye on. Maybe we -- can just to make sure we understand, to put a finer point on the last question, how you think about kind of the yield and margin cadence for the back half. There's some odd comps, obviously, last year to consider versus what feels this year. As you said, more like normal seasonality. So can you maybe help us put a little bit of a finer point on it for modeling purposes?

抱歉，我是諾亞·凱。也許我們可以只是為了確保我們理解，對最後一個問題提出更好的觀點，即您如何看待後半部分的收益率和利潤節奏。顯然，去年與今年的感覺相比，有一些奇怪的比較需要考慮。正如你所說，更像是正常的季節性。那麼您能否幫助我們為建模目的提出一些更詳細的觀點？

Well -- and again, I would say it had more to do with the prior year than the current year. We always said this year, we expect more of a normal seasonality sequentially. And so again, when you take a look at -- in a normal year, your 2 best quarters tend to be Q2 and Q3 because you're capturing those summer months, right? And then again, you start pulling in some of the -- in the colder climates where some of the units start to step down, and that's why you see comparably lower margin performance, lower revenue, lower EBITDA in Qs 4 and 1. But as you kind of see this year and you kind of do the math, it looks like second half will be slightly more contribution than first half, kind of a 49.5%, 50.5% type contribution. And again, we would say that that's relatively in line with our original expectations.

嗯——再說一次，我想說這與前一年的關係比與今年的關係更大。我們總是說，今年我們預計會出現更多正常的季節性變化。再說一次，當你看一下 - 在正常的一年中，你最好的兩個季度往往是第二季度和第三季度，因為你正在捕捉那些夏季月份，對嗎？然後，你又開始拉入一些——在寒冷的氣候下，一些單位開始退出，這就是為什麼你會看到第四季度和第一季度的利潤率表現、收入、息稅折舊攤銷前利潤 (EBITDA) 相對較低。你看看今年，你算一下，看起來下半年的貢獻會比上半年略多，大概是 49.5%、50.5% 的貢獻。再說一次，我們會說這相對符合我們最初的預期。

And I think -- by the way, I take your point around higher flow-through on price versus volume and agree with it all day. And so part of just trying to better understand because I think there's been a theme to this earnings around what the volume environment actually looks like. So I just want to make sure I can reconcile something. I think that the guide basically implies flat volumes, right, for the back half. And as you said in your commentary, you're not really looking at a flat volume environment, you're still looking at growth. So just how do I reconcile those? Are you maybe just being a little bit conservative given some of the indicators? Just help us to make sense.

我認為——順便說一句，我同意你關於價格與成交量之間更高流量的觀點，並且一整天都同意這一點。因此，我只是試圖更好地理解這一點，因為我認為本次收益的主題是圍繞銷量環境的實際情況。所以我只是想確保我可以協調一些事情。我認為該指南基本上暗示了後半部分的平坦體積，對吧。正如您在評論中所說，您並沒有真正看到銷量持平的環境，您仍在關注增長。那麼我該如何協調這些呢？考慮到某些指標，您是否可能有點保守？只是幫助我們理解。

Yes. It's just caution and conservatism, given the construction market, given obviously the manufacturing industry we talk about and just there's some general uncertainty out there have we really stuck the soft landing or not. So we want to be cognizant of that. Listen, we're still raising, right? We've got a great story to tell and very, very positive. But on the volume standpoint, we're just being conservative.

是的。考慮到建築市場，顯然考慮到我們談論的製造業，而且我們是否真的能實現軟著陸，還存在一些普遍的不確定性，這只是謹慎和保守。所以我們希望認識到這一點。聽著，我們還在加註，對吧？我們有一個很棒的故事要講，而且非常非常積極。但從數量的角度來看，我們只是保守。

The next question is from David Manthey of Baird.

下一個問題來自貝爾德 (Baird) 的大衛·曼西 (David Manthey)。

Question on Environmental Solutions. In broad strokes, can you outline what that segment might look like in 5 years based on your strategy today?

關於環境解決方案的問題。概括地說，您能否根據您當前的戰略概述 5 年後該細分市場會是什麼樣子？

Yes, we expect to keep growing. And this question comes up often, what percentage of the mix is going to be, right? We don't have a target percentage mix. I can tell you that we also plan on growing the Recycling & Solid Waste side of the business. And so whether that is 12%, 14%, 15%, 16%, 1 year might be outsized one or the other, but we expect it to contribute. And the most important thing for us is it's related, right? It's the thing that's helping us drive cross-sell and stickiness with our customers, not just on the ES side of the business, but in the Recycling & Solid Waste side of the business.

是的，我們期望繼續增長。這個問題經常出現，混合的百分比是多少，對吧？我們沒有目標比例組合。我可以告訴你，我們還計劃發展回收和固體廢物業務。因此，無論是 12%、14%、15%、16%，還是 1 年，其中一個可能會過大，但我們預計它會做出貢獻。對我們來說最重要的是它是相關的，對吧？它幫助我們推動交叉銷售和與客戶的粘性，不僅在業務的 ES 方面，而且在業務的回收和固體廢物方面。

So same formula there. We're going to start with price, right? We're going to look to gain organic growth, right, and grow some basis points ahead of the market, but not wildly ahead of the market. And then have a strong M&A pipeline, but stay very disciplined in terms of double-digit returns and make sure that any deal we do there fits our strategy.

所以那裡有相同的公式。我們將從價格開始，對嗎？我們將尋求獲得有機增長，對吧，並領先於市場一些基點，但不會大幅領先於市場。然後擁有強大的併購渠道，但在兩位數回報方面保持嚴格的紀律，並確保我們在那裡進行的任何交易都符合我們的戰略。

And second, I guess someone has to ask about PFAS. So with your current Environmental Solutions capabilities, is PFAS remediation a net positive opportunity today for Republic? Or do you need other pieces to make it that way?

其次，我想有人會問有關 PFAS 的問題。那麼，根據您目前的環境解決方案能力，PFAS 修復對 Republic 來說是一個淨積極的機會嗎？或者你需要其他的東西才能做到這一點嗎？

So we see it as a positive. And again, this is not -- there's -- laws are still evolving here and the regulations are. And so we're actively having discussions at a federal, state and local level, right, to make sure that we're not -- and the industry broadly, right, isn't the one holding the bag or they should want us to take care of PFAS because we're the one collecting it. We didn't generate it or create it. So we're going to be mindful that we're not penalized because we're doing the right thing from the environment. And then you flip that on the ES side of the business, lots of opportunities already emerging and lots of customer discussions for how we remediate. We have some solutions today, that portfolio is going to grow. So we think this is a net positive for us.

所以我們認為這是積極的。再說一遍，這裡的法律和法規仍在不斷發展。因此，我們正在聯邦、州和地方層面積極進行討論，以確保我們不會——而且整個行業，對吧，不是幕後黑手，否則他們應該希望我們這樣做請妥善保管 PFAS，因為我們是收集它的人。我們沒有生成它或創建它。因此，我們要注意，我們不會因為在環境方面做了正確的事情而受到懲罰。然後你將其翻轉到業務的 ES 方面，大量機會已經出現，並且大量客戶討論我們如何補救。今天我們有一些解決方案，該產品組合將會增長。所以我們認為這對我們來說是一個淨積極的結果。

Your next question comes from Tobey Sommer of Truist Securities.

您的下一個問題來自 Truist Securities 的 Tobey Sommer。

Can you keep this pace of margin expansion in ES into 2024? And where is the ultimate end goal? Maybe speak to the drivers from this low 20% range.

ES 的利潤擴張速度能否保持到 2024 年？而最終的最終目標又在哪裡呢？也許可以從這 20% 的低範圍內與司機交談。

Yes. The ultimate end goal is to harmonize the financial profile of this business with the Recycling & Solid Waste side of the business. We think we first will get their free cash flow conversion because over the cycle, this side of the business has a little less capital intensity and then ultimately margin. We're going to get there in a very disciplined way, right? You won't see the pace of the margin expansion, right, 540 basis points, that's leaps and bounds. We're not going to keep this pace. But I think you're going to see steady progress on that front.

是的。最終目標是使該業務的財務狀況與回收和固體廢物業務方面相協調。我們認為我們首先將獲得他們的自由現金流轉換，因為在整個週期中，這方面的業務的資本密集度稍低，然後是最終的利潤率。我們將以一種非常有紀律的方式到達那裡，對嗎？你不會看到利潤率擴張的速度，對吧，540個基點，這是跨越式的發展。我們不會保持這個節奏。但我認為你會看到這方面的穩步進展。

And listen, there will be some movement in this business like there is as the economy ebbs and flows, but we're going to take a through-cycle mindset, continue to serve customers, stay disciplined, focus on people who are generating recurring revenue over time. And I think you'll see the financial profile harmonize over time in the 2 sides of the business.

聽著，隨著經濟的潮起潮落，這個行業將會發生一些變化，但我們將採取貫穿週期的思維方式，繼續為客戶服務，保持紀律，關注那些產生經常性收入的人隨著時間的推移。我認為隨著時間的推移，您會看到業務兩個方面的財務狀況趨於協調。

How much higher can you drive retention above the 94% level and still have it sort of be economically advantageous? And what's driving service delivery improvement now?

在保持經濟優勢的情況下，您可以將保留率提高到 94% 以上嗎？現在是什麼推動了服務交付的改進？

I'll start with the end of your question. Certainly, technology is helping us on that front. As we put in the RISE platform is just allowing -- positioning our frontline people to succeed every day. All the information with the customer is in front of them. When things come up like a block stop, they can immediately communicate digitally to our logistics department through our customer service. So we've got a full visibility and can communicate with the customer quickly. Turnover coming down is certainly helping that, and we feel good about that on the front line of the business.

我將從你問題的結尾開始。當然，技術在這方面正在幫助我們。正如我們在 RISE 平台中投入的那樣，我們的一線員工每天都能取得成功。與客戶有關的所有信息都在他們面前。當出現堵塞等情況時，他們可以立即通過我們的客戶服務以數字方式與我們的物流部門進行溝通。因此我們擁有完整的可見性並可以快速與客戶溝通。營業額下降肯定對此有所幫助，我們對業務第一線的這一點感到滿意。

And I don't think we can drive loyalty to 100 because at some point, that's unattractive for certain customers who aren't willing to go or want to go from a price increase. And there is some natural movement of homes, closures of business, et cetera. But we don't think we're done yet. We aspire to take that 94 up higher.

我認為我們無法將忠誠度提高到 100，因為在某些時候，這對於某些不願意或不想因價格上漲而離開的客戶來說沒有吸引力。還有一些房屋的自然移動、企業倒閉等等。但我們認為我們還沒有完成。我們渴望將 94 提升到更高。

Last one for me. What are the puts and takes of multiple price hikes per annum as opposed to larger, less frequent price hikes?

最後一張給我。與規模較大、頻率較低的價格上漲相比，每年多次價格上漲的看跌期權和賣出期權是多少？

Well, one would be test and learn, right? So when you put out the price increase, right, you can understand exactly how customers react and are we able to retain that work? And so that's the flexibility we have. Over time, you're not going to see us do that. Our normal case and recycling solid waste business is typically annual increases when extraordinary things happen like the commodity issue 4, 5 years ago, multiple price increases in a year, but that's not normal course. So over time, the ES business will matriculate to that model as well.

嗯，一個人會進行測試和學習，對吧？因此，當您宣布價格上漲時，對吧，您可以準確了解客戶的反應以及我們是否能夠保留這項工作？這就是我們所擁有的靈活性。隨著時間的推移，你將不會看到我們這樣做。我們的正常情況和回收固廢業務通常是每年增長，當特殊的事情發生時，比如四、五年前的商品問題，一年內多次漲價，但這不是正常的過程。因此，隨著時間的推移，ES 業務也將適應這種模式。

The next question comes from Stephanie Moore of Jefferies.

下一個問題來自傑富瑞 (Jefferies) 的斯蒂芬妮·摩爾 (Stephanie Moore)。

Sticking on the move to the ES side and particularly the US Ecology deal. I mean, I think kind of everything that was laid out tonight kind of speaks to the strength you've seen, whether it's pricing or the cross-selling. So suffice it to say, is that $75 million to $100 million revenue synergy target, presumably, we've blown past that at this point? Do you have a new target? Or how would you think about kind of ultimately the opportunity you can continue to garner from a cross-selling and pricing standpoint and what that means for that original target?

堅持轉向 ES 方面，特別是 US Ecology 交易。我的意思是，我認為今晚列出的所有內容都說明了您所看到的實力，無論是定價還是交叉銷售。我只想說，7500 萬至 1 億美元的收入協同目標是不是我們現在已經超過了？你有新的目標了嗎？或者，您如何看待從交叉銷售和定價的角度來看您最終可以繼續獲得的機會，以及這對最初的目標意味著什麼？

Yes. Listen, the pipeline is strong. Ultimately, this will manifest itself in our guidance for 2024, which we're not talking about today, but that will roll, right? And again, US Ecology, which was a great company. We were lucky to acquire, most importantly, the people, but also those assets. They're now part of the Republic Services in the Environmental Solutions business, so we've anniversaried that going forward. And so you'll see that roll through our volume numbers as we forecast 2024.

是的。聽著，管道很強大。最終，這將在我們對 2024 年的指導中得到體現，雖然我們今天不討論該指導，但它會滾動，對嗎？再說一遍，US Ecology，這是一家偉大的公司。最重要的是，我們很幸運地獲得了人才，還有這些資產。他們現在是 Republic Services 環境解決方案業務的一部分，因此我們已經慶祝了這一點。因此，您將看到我們預測 2024 年的銷量數字。

And then maybe switching gears. Can you provide us an update on the joint venture with the BP and on the RNG front, maybe any updates or how it's progressing thus far?

然後也許會切換齒輪。您能否向我們提供有關與 BP 和 RNG 方面合資企業的最新信息，也許有任何更新或到目前為止進展如何？

Yes. It's progressing about 57 projects and partnership. The largest chunk of that is with BP. It's 40-plus projects of those are with BP. And listen, we're hitting our marks broadly. Now there's certainly been some push-pull across individual locations where we've had some capital delays in being able to get facilities built. But then we've had other places where we've been able to redirect and pull forward faster and get that permitting in place.

是的。目前正在推進約 57 個項目和合作夥伴關係。其中最大的一部分是英國石油公司(BP)。其中 40 多個項目是與 BP 合作的。聽著，我們正在廣汎達到目標。現在，各個地點之間肯定存在一些推拉，我們在設施建設方面出現了一些資本延遲。但後來我們在其他地方能夠更快地重定向和推進並獲得許可。

So ultimately, we're meeting our expectations for what's going to come online by the end of this year. And I think that's a helpful part of our portfolio, given the number of sites where you have 1 or 2 sites that might run into a little bit of delays. You've got the opportunity to look to accelerate other places.

所以最終，我們將達到我們對今年年底上線的預期。我認為這是我們產品組合中很有幫助的一部分，因為在網站數量眾多的情況下，有 1 或 2 個網站可能會遇到一點延遲。你有機會尋求在其他地方加速發展。

So maybe any volatility we've seen with RINs this year and nothing -- that really doesn't have any in impact with kind of your expectations for this year and next just given the structure of the JV? Is that kind of a fair assessment? Or how would you talk about company volatility?

因此，也許今年我們在 RIN 上看到了任何波動，但沒有任何波動——考慮到合資企業的結構，這真的不會對您今年和明年的預期產生任何影響？這樣的評價公平嗎？或者你會如何談論公司的波動性？

From a long-term planning, and we talked about how we were valuing these investments, we assume $2 RIN prices through cycle. So the more recent uptick in RINs prices will actually be upside to our original expectations.

從長期規劃來看，我們討論瞭如何評估這些投資，我們假設整個週期的 RIN 價格為 2 美元。因此，最近 RIN 價格的上漲實際上將高於我們最初的預期。

The next question comes from Michael Feniger of Bank of America.

下一個問題來自美國銀行的邁克爾·費尼格。

Just, Brian, the M&A rollover you said next year is 50 basis points. I think typically, M&A ends up being margin dilutive, but some of the acquisitions look like nice assets like Colorado. Just on that 50 bps next year, is there any chance that M&A isn't margin diluted that it could be neutral or even accretive based on some of the assets you guys were able to purchase?

只是，布萊恩，你說明年的併購展期是 50 個基點。我認為通常情況下，併購最終會稀釋利潤，但有些收購看起來像科羅拉多州這樣的好資產。就明年的 50 個基點而言，併購是否有可能不會稀釋利潤，根據你們能夠購買的一些資產，它可能是中性的，甚至是增值的？

Yes. On a majority of that 50 basis point rollover, we would expect that to be at the margin plus.

是的。在 50 個基點展期的大部分中，我們預計其利潤率將處於正值之上。

And I guess just for my second question, free cash flow is tracking well. I think the conversion is going to be that 44% range in line with last year. I guess with all the conversations about sustainability investments and these projects, just do you think that free cash flow conversion is going to plateau? Or is there an opportunity for next year, for '24, to see that break out a little bit and step up? What are some things that we should consider that might maybe hold that back or potential upside for that into next year?

我想就我的第二個問題而言，自由現金流狀況良好。我認為轉換率將是 44%，與去年一致。我想在所有關於可持續發展投資和這些項目的對話中，您是否認為自由現金流轉換會趨於穩定？或者明年，24 年，是否有機會看到這一點的突破和進步？我們應該考慮哪些因素可能會阻礙明年的增長或帶來潛在的好處？

Yes. Well, a couple of things. So I mean your observation of relatively flat with '22. Be mindful though that we're overcoming over 300 basis points worth of headwinds between higher cash interest rates, commodity prices and the impact of bonus depreciation. So the underlying business is actually offsetting all of that to drive a result that looks relatively flat. That said, the contribution as we start thinking about the RNG plants and we think about polymer centers, Blue Polymers, all of which would be accretive to current company performance, that should all be additive. And as long as we don't continue to experience these year-over-year headwinds like we did this year in those 3 areas I just mentioned, you should start to see that flow through.

是的。嗯，有幾件事。所以我的意思是你的觀察結果與 22 年相對持平。但請注意，我們正在克服現金利率上升、大宗商品價格和紅利折舊影響之間超過 300 個基點的阻力。因此，基礎業務實際上正在抵消所有這些，以推動看起來相對平穩的結果。也就是說，當我們開始考慮 RNG 工廠並考慮聚合物中心、藍色聚合物時，所有這些都將增加公司當前的業績，這些貢獻都應該是累加性的。只要我們不再像今年在我剛才提到的這三個領域那樣繼續經歷這些年復一年的逆風，你就應該開始看到這種情況的發生。

And Brian, just maybe just the last one. Just when I look at the open versus restricted pricing, obviously very healthy. How do we kind of think of those moving parts as we go into second half? And any visibility we kind of have in the first half next year just based on how we do the look backs?

布萊恩，也許只是最後一個。當我查看開放定價與限制定價時，顯然非常健康。當我們進入下半場時，我們如何看待這些變化的部分？僅僅根據我們的回顧方式，我們在明年上半年會有什麼可見度？

Yes. So again, when we think about open market pricing, and we've said this all along that we expected relatively higher pricing in the first half as compared to the second half, not really a function of what we're doing in the current year, it just we'd start getting into tougher comps. And again, it's a year-over-year comparison, so expressed as a percentage. You start to see that modulate a little bit. But again, all staying within, call it, 50 basis points of the full year guide. So it steps down a little bit.

是的。因此，當我們考慮公開市場定價時，我們一直表示，與下半年相比，我們預計上半年的定價相對較高，這實際上與我們今年所做的事情無關，這只是我們開始進入更艱難的比賽。再說一遍，這是同比比較，因此以百分比表示。你開始看到它發生了一點變化。但同樣，一切都保持在全年指導的 50 個基點之內。所以它稍微下降了一點。

Within the restricted, as we look forward, depends really on the pricing mechanism. So while we see potentially some of the CPI escalators, right, sequentially start to step down, water sewer trash and garbage track are doing the exact opposite. Each month, they tend to improve. So again, we see it being relatively consistent in the restricted portion of the book just because what we see in step downs in CPI being offset again by those alternative indices.

在限制範圍內，正如我們所期待的那樣，實際上取決於定價機制。因此，雖然我們可能會看到一些消費者物價指數自動扶梯，對，依次開始下降，但下水道垃圾和垃圾軌道的情況恰恰相反。每個月，他們都會有所進步。因此，我們再次看到這本書的限制部分相對一致，因為我們看到 CPI 的下降再次被這些替代指數所抵消。

The next question comes from Kevin Chiang of CIBC.

下一個問題來自 CIBC 的 Kevin Jiang。

Maybe just one for me. I'm just wondering when you think of ES margins from the low 20s to eventually 30%, it sounds like pricing is tracking well. You've got the cross-selling opportunities. Just you had good success rolling on technology, automation, a bunch of things that have helped improve your solid waste margins. Just wondering how many of those initiatives you've rolled into ES. Or maybe how many of those initiatives would be applicable in the ES segment that could help bridge that gap? And is there a way to maybe quantify how much that could be to margins if you roll out some of that technology to the Environmental Solutions business?

也許對我來說只是一件。我只是想知道，當你想到 ES 的利潤率從 20% 到最終的 30% 時，聽起來定價進展順利。您有交叉銷售的機會。只是你們在技術、自動化等方面取得了巨大的成功，這些都有助於提高你們的固體廢物利潤。只是想知道您已將其中的多少舉措納入 ES 中。或者，其中有多少舉措適用於 ES 領域，有助於彌合這一差距？如果您將部分技術推廣到環境解決方案業務，是否有辦法量化可能對利潤產生的影響？

Yes. No, it's a great question. Right now, that's all costs, no benefit. So we're investing a lot in IT and doing a lot of hard integration work. US Ecology, but also ACV and a lot of the legacy assets we have all in the common platform, starting with a customer, how do we make that service offering even more compelling by getting digitally integrated with them. And then there's certainly some things on the operating side of the business, which will also help us drive labor utilization, more efficiency in terms of material flow, et cetera. We haven't quantified exactly what that's worth yet, but that will be part of the path to get to the 30. And when we get a little further down the road, we'll talk about those initiatives in more detail.

是的。不，這是一個很好的問題。現在，這只是成本，沒有任何好處。因此，我們在 IT 方面投入了大量資金，並做了很多艱苦的集成工作。 US Ecology、ACV 以及我們在通用平台上擁有的許多遺留資產，從客戶開始，我們如何通過與他們進行數字集成來使服務產品更具吸引力。當然，業務運營方面也有一些事情，這也將幫助我們提高勞動力利用率、提高物料流效率等。我們還沒有確切地量化它的價值，但這將是達到 30 的道路的一部分。當我們進一步深入時，我們將更詳細地討論這些舉措。

The next question comes from Stephanie Yee of JPMorgan.

下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Stephanie Yee。

I want to ask about the polymer centers. So the Las Vegas, Midwest and the 2 others that you're planning to build, is 4 kind of the gating factor because of how much plastics you're actually collecting in your recycling routes? Or if there is a lot of demand, would you consider investing in more than 4 facilities?

我想問一下關於聚合物中心的問題。因此，拉斯維加斯、中西部和您計劃建造的其他兩個城市是 4 種限制因素，因為您在回收路線中實際收集了多少塑料？或者如果需求很大，您會考慮投資4個以上的設施嗎？

Yes. Four was -- the business case we based it off of was all the maturity we collect today. So we don't have supply risk, which is great. Now we built those centers with a capacity to take third-party volume, and we're already getting some of that. So we've created a broker that's already starting to capture some third-party volume, and it's a great value proposition. For example, if you have a municipally owned recycling center, we can take labor out of your facility, right, give you a few more -- penny for that load, and it's part of your sustainability story as well. So you share in the environmental benefits of that.

是的。四是——我們所依據的商業案例是我們今天收集到的所有成熟度。所以我們沒有供應風險，這很好。現在，我們建立了能夠容納第三方數量的中心，並且我們已經獲得了其中的一些。因此，我們創建了一個經紀商，該經紀商已經開始捕獲一些第三方交易量，這是一個巨大的價值主張。例如，如果您有一個市政府擁有的回收中心，我們可以從您的設施中取出勞動力，對吧，再給您一些——為該負載提供一分錢，這也是您可持續發展故事的一部分。所以你分享了它的環境效益。

Over time, right, as that demand for third party continues to grow, we could imagine 5 or 6 centers. it's regionally based, all hub-and-spoke model. So we've got the flexibility in the network over time that if the demand outstrips the capacity of the 4, that we'll continue to invest.

隨著時間的推移，隨著對第三方的需求持續增長，我們可以想像有 5 到 6 個中心。它是基於區域的、全中心輻射模型。因此，隨著時間的推移，我們的網絡具有靈活性，如果需求超過 4 個網絡的容量，我們將繼續投資。

And just on the Blue Polymers JV, can you give us an idea of the CapEx spend that would be coming from Republic? Or is it too early at this point?

關於 Blue Polymers 合資企業，您能否向我們介紹一下 Republic 的資本支出支出？或者現在還為時過早？

Remember, it's more -- we're a minority owner, so it's more an investment then it will come through CapEx. But we're thinking that our allocable share would be about $40 million per facility or $160 million in total over the next 5 to 6 years.

請記住，我們是少數股東，因此它更多的是一項投資，而不是通過資本支出來實現。但我們認為，未來 5 到 6 年內，每個設施的可分配份額約為 4000 萬美元，即總計 1.6 億美元。

At this time, there are no further questions. I'd like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Jon Vander Ark for any closing remarks.

目前，沒有其他問題了。我想將會議轉回給喬恩·范德·阿克 (Jon Vander Ark) 先生做總結髮言。

Thank you, Andrea. This month marks the 25th anniversary of Republic Services stock trading on the New York Stock Exchange. I would like to thank all of our stakeholders, including customers, employees, communities and shareholders for their commitment and support in building this great organization. Have a good evening and be safe.

謝謝你，安德里亞。本月是 Republic Services 股票在紐約證券交易所上市 25 週年。我要感謝我們所有的利益相關者，包括客戶、員工、社區和股東，感謝他們為建立這個偉大的組織所做的承諾和支持。祝您晚上愉快，注意安全。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes the conference call. Thank you for attending, and you may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，電話會議到此結束。感謝您參加，您現在可以斷開連接。