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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Share Based Compensation Arrangement By Share Based Payment Award [Line Items]

Total Reported Revenues by Service Line

​

​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​
​	​	Years Ended December 31,
​		2021			2020			2019
Commercial		$	1,813,426	​	$	1,610,313		$	1,593,217
Residential	​	​	1,673,819	​	​	1,528,217	​	​	1,380,763
Industrial and construction roll off	​	​	954,181	​	​	833,148	​	​	841,173
Total collection	​	​	4,441,426	​	​	3,971,678	​	​	3,815,153
Landfill	​	​	1,233,499	​	​	1,146,732	​	​	1,132,935
Transfer	​	​	859,113	​	​	777,754	​	​	771,316
Recycling	​	​	205,076	​	​	86,389	​	​	64,245
E&P	​	​	138,707	​	​	159,438	​	​	271,887
Intermodal and other	​	​	152,194	​	​	118,396	​	​	121,137
Intercompany	​	​	(878,654)	​	​	(814,397)	​	​	(787,994)
Total		$	6,151,361	​	$	5,445,990		$	5,388,679

Allowance for Credit Losses

The following is a rollforward of the Company’s allowance for credit losses for the periods indicated:

​	​	​	​	​	​	​
​	​	Years Ended December 31,
​	​	2021			2020
Beginning balance	​	$	19,380	​	$	16,432
Current period provision for expected credit losses	​	​	9,719	​	​	15,509
Write-offs charged against the allowance	​	​	(15,545)	​	​	(18,318)
Recoveries collected	​	​	4,918	​	​	5,720
Impact of changes in foreign currency	​	​	8	​	​	37
Ending balance	​	$	18,480	​	$	19,380

Property Plant and Equipment Estimated Useful Lives

The estimated useful lives are as follows:

​

​	​	​
Buildings		10 – 20 years
Leasehold and land improvements		3 – 10 years
Machinery and equipment		3 – 12 years
Rolling stock		3 – 10 years
Containers		3 – 12 years

Reconciliation of Final Capping, Closure and Post-Closure Liability Balance

The following is a reconciliation of the Company’s final capping, closure and post-closure liability balance from December 31, 2019 to December 31, 2021:

​

​	​	​	​
Final capping, closure and post-closure liability at December 31, 2019		$	291,474
Liability adjustments	​		2,490
Accretion expense associated with landfill obligations	​		14,874
Closure payments	​		(6,488)
Assumption of closure liabilities from acquisitions	​		2,136
Disposition of closure liabilities from divested operations	​	​	(3,413)
Foreign currency translation adjustment	​	​	823
Final capping, closure and post-closure liability at December 31, 2020		​	301,896
Liability adjustments	​		(1,081)
Accretion expense associated with landfill obligations	​		14,333
Closure payments	​		(21,040)
Assumption of closure liabilities from acquisitions	​	​	11,380
Disposition of closure liabilities from divested operations	​	​	(3,566)
Foreign currency translation adjustment	​		615
Final capping, closure and post-closure liability at December 31, 2021	​	$	302,537

Restricted Cash and Restricted Investments

Restricted cash and restricted investments consist of the following:

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

December 31, 2021

​

December 31, 2020

​

​

Restricted

​

Restricted

​

Restricted

​

Restricted

​

Cash

Investments

Cash

Investments

Settlement of insurance claims

​

$

52,906

​

$

—

​

$

78,335

​

$

—

Landfill closure and post-closure obligations

​

​

12,609

​

​

56,289

​

​

12,533

​

​

54,833

Other financial assurance requirements

​

​

6,659

​

​

2,725

​

​

6,227

​

​

2,683

​

​

$

72,174

​

$

59,014

​

$

97,095

​

$

57,516

Carrying Values and Fair Values of Debt Instruments

​

​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​
​	​	Carrying Value at					​	Fair Value (a) at
​	​	December 31,		​	December 31,		​	December 31,		​	December 31,
​		2021			2020			2021			2020
4.64% Senior Notes due 2021	​	$	—	​	$	100,000	​	$	—	​	$	100,850
2.39% Senior Notes due 2021	​	$	—	​	$	150,000	​	$	—	​	$	150,695
3.09% Senior Notes due 2022 (b)	​	$	—	​	$	125,000	​	$	—	​	$	128,482
2.75% Senior Notes due 2023 (b)	​	$	—	​	$	200,000	​	$	—	​	$	206,204
3.24% Senior Notes due 2024 (b)	​	$	—	​	$	150,000	​	$	—	​	$	158,140
3.41% Senior Notes due 2025 (b)	​	$	—	​	$	375,000	​	$	—	​	$	403,025
3.03% Senior Notes due 2026 (b)	​	$	—	​	$	400,000	​	$	—	​	$	424,874
3.49% Senior Notes due 2027 (b)	​	$	—	​	$	250,000	​	$	—	​	$	271,198
4.25% Senior Notes due 2028	​	$	500,000	​	$	500,000	​	$	561,350	​	$	597,050
3.50% Senior Notes due 2029	​	$	500,000	​	$	500,000	​	$	539,500	​	$	570,450
2.60% Senior Notes due 2030	​	$	600,000	​	$	600,000	​	$	610,440	​	$	644,520
2.20% Senior Notes due 2032	​	$	650,000	​	$	—	​	$	637,065	​	$	—
3.05% Senior Notes due 2050	​	$	500,000	​	$	500,000	​	$	496,350	​	$	540,050
2.95% Senior Notes due 2052	​	$	850,000	​	$	—	​	$	828,580	​	$	—

(a) Senior Notes are classified as Level 2 within the fair value hierarchy. Fair value inputs include third-party calculations of the market interest rate of notes with similar ratings in similar industries over the remaining note terms.

(b) All of the outstanding Senior Notes issued pursuant to the 2008 and 2016 master note purchase agreements were redeemed by the Company on September 20, 2021.

Fair Value of Derivative Instrument Designated as Cash Flow Hedges

The fair values of derivative instruments designated as cash flow hedges as of December 31, 2021, were as follows:

​

​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​
Derivatives Designated as Cash	​	Asset Derivatives				​	Liability Derivatives
Flow Hedges		Balance Sheet Location		Fair Value			Balance Sheet Location		Fair Value
Interest rate swaps		Prepaid expenses and other current assets	​	$	—		Accrued liabilities(a)	​	$	(18,675)
​		​	​		​		Other long-term liabilities	​	​	(32,406)
Total derivatives designated as cash flow hedges	​	​	​	$	—	​	​	​	$	(51,081)

(a) Represents the estimated amount of the existing unrealized losses on interest rate swaps as of December 31, 2021 (based on the interest rate yield curve at that date), included in AOCIL expected to be reclassified into pre-tax earnings within the next 12 months. The actual amounts reclassified into earnings are dependent on future movements in interest rates.

The fair values of derivative instruments designated as cash flow hedges as of December 31, 2020, were as follows:

​

​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​
Derivatives Designated as Cash	​	Asset Derivatives				​	Liability Derivatives
Flow Hedges		Balance Sheet Location		Fair Value			Balance Sheet Location		Fair Value
Interest rate swaps		Prepaid expenses and other current assets	​	$	—		Accrued liabilities	​	$	(20,023)
​		​	​		​		Other long-term liabilities	​		(74,666)
Total derivatives designated as cash flow hedges	​	​	​	$	—	​	​	​	$	(94,689)

Impact of Cash Flow Hedges on Results of Operations, Comprehensive Income and Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss

The following table summarizes the impact of the Company’s cash flow hedges on the results of operations, comprehensive income (loss) and AOCIL for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019:

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Derivatives

​

​

​

Statement of

​

Amount of (Gain) or Loss Reclassified

Designated as Cash

​

Amount of Gain or (Loss) Recognized

​

Net Income

​

from AOCIL into Earnings,

Flow Hedges

​

as AOCIL on Derivatives, Net of Tax (a)

​

Classification

​

Net of Tax (b)

​

​

Years Ended December 31,

​

​

​

Years Ended December 31,

​

2021

2020

2019

​

2021

2020

2019

Interest rate swaps

​

$

17,116

​

$

(47,528)

​

$

(32,247)

​

Interest expense

​

$

14,936

​

$

7,187

​

$

(5,900)

(a) In accordance with the derivatives and hedging guidance, the changes in fair values of interest rate swaps have been recorded in equity as a component of AOCIL. As the critical terms of the interest rate swaps match the underlying debt being hedged, all unrealized changes in fair value are recorded in AOCIL.

(b) Amounts reclassified from AOCIL into earnings related to realized gains and losses on interest rate swaps are recognized when interest payments or receipts occur related to the swap contracts, which correspond to when interest payments are made on the Company’s hedged debt.

Interest Rate Swap [Member]

Share Based Compensation Arrangement By Share Based Payment Award [Line Items]

Company's Derivative Instruments

At December 31, 2021, the Company’s derivative instruments included six interest rate swap agreements as follows:

​

​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​
​		​	​		Fixed		Variable		​		​
​	​	Notional		​	Interest	​	Interest Rate	​	​	​	Expiration
Date Entered	​	Amount		​	Rate Paid*	​	Received	​	Effective Date	​	Date
August 2017	​	$	100,000		1.900	%	1-month LIBOR		July 2019		July 2022
August 2017	​	$	200,000		2.200	%	1-month LIBOR		October 2020		October 2025
August 2017	​	$	150,000		1.950	%	1-month LIBOR		February 2020		February 2023
June 2018	​	$	200,000	​	2.925	%	1-month LIBOR	​	October 2020	​	October 2025
June 2018	​	$	200,000	​	2.925	%	1-month LIBOR	​	October 2020	​	October 2025
December 2018	​	$	200,000	​	2.850	%	1-month LIBOR	​	July 2022	​	July 2027

* Plus applicable margin.

Employee Stock Option [Member] | Progressive Waste Plans [Member]

Share Based Compensation Arrangement By Share Based Payment Award [Line Items]

Fair Value Assumptions

The fair value of the Progressive Waste share based options outstanding was calculated using a Black-Scholes pricing model with the following weighted average assumptions for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019:

​

​	​	​	​	​	​	​
​		Years Ended December 31,
​	​	2021	​	2020	​	2019
Expected remaining life		1.00 year	​	0.50 to 1.00 year	​	1.50 years
Share volatility		15.04%	​	17.72% to 33.54%	​	16.14%
Discount rate		0.41%	​	0.06% to 0.12%	​	1.61%
Annual dividend rate		0.68%	​	0.80%	​	0.82%

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