Environmental Surcharges
Environmental Surcharges may be put in place for the recovery of operating and capital costs related to the ongoing and increasingly complex environmental and regulatory compliance requirements associated with the transportation of solid waste, as well as the operation of collection facilities, transfer stations, landfills, material recovery facilities, composting facilities and landfill gas systems. The Environmental Surcharge is not directly related to the costs of any specific customer account. Rather, the Environmental Surcharge is based upon direct and indirect environmental and regulatory compliance costs incurred at operations across the company so that we can achieve an acceptable operating margin. The environmental and regulatory compliance costs include, among other things, leachate and wastewater treatment and disposal, compliance with environmental regulations, engineering, monitoring and testing at disposal facilities, special waste handling, and monitoring and managing vehicle emissions. One or more Environmental Surcharges may apply depending on the type of waste being handled. The Environmental Surcharge will not fluctuate each month, but will be evaluated and changed periodically based upon periodic evaluations of companywide environmental and regulatory compliance costs and returns on invested capital.