Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

tlevine984 (83.72) Submitted: 2/24/2007 8:04:28 PM : Start Price: $19.63 WCN Score: +63.33

Most profitable company in solid waste business.

What Waste Connections lacks in disposal capacity, it makes up in operational efficiency. Trash takers with high internalization rates (the percentage of company-collected waste that is dumped in company-owned landfills) minimize expensive tipping fees, and drive more waste volume through their own higher-margin disposal operations.

Waste Connections' internalization rate continues to improve and will soon surpass 70%, up from about 50% in 2000. In competitive markets (about 45% of revenue), the firm's internalization rate is about 86% and compares favorably with that of the other three waste haulers we cover: Waste Management WMI (67%), Allied Waste AW (73%), and Republic Services RSG (57%).