GFL Environmental Inc. operates as a diversified environmental services company in Canada and the United States. The company offers non-hazardous solid waste management, infrastructure and soil remediation, and liquid waste management services. Its solid waste management business line includes the collection, transportation, transfer, recycling, and disposal of non-hazardous solid waste for municipal, residential, and commercial and industrial customers. The company's infrastructure and soil remediation business line provides remediation of contaminated soils, as well as complementary services, including civil, demolition, and excavation and shoring services. Its liquid waste management business collects, manages, transports, processes, and disposes of a range of industrial and commercial liquid wastes, as well as resells liquid waste products. The company was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Vaughan, Canada.
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Think of them as a **Waste Management (WM) or Republic Services (RSG) for solid waste, liquid waste, and soil remediation.**
A **'one-stop shop' for North American environmental services**, handling everything from everyday trash to complex industrial waste and site cleanups.
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Major Products/Services of GFL Environmental
- Solid Waste Services: Provides collection, transfer, recycling, and disposal of non-hazardous solid waste for residential, commercial, and industrial customers.
- Infrastructure & Soil Remediation Services: Offers earthworks, demolition, and the remediation of contaminated soil and sites, primarily supporting construction and development projects.
- Liquid Waste Services: Encompasses the collection, transportation, processing, and disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous liquid waste, including industrial wastewaters and used oils.
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GFL Environmental (symbol: GFL) primarily sells its services to other companies, governmental entities, and institutions, rather than directly to individuals. The company serves a highly diversified customer base, and as is common for waste management companies, it does not publicly disclose the names of specific major customer companies due to the fragmented nature of the industry and the sheer volume of its clients. Instead, its major customers can be categorized as follows:
- Municipalities: These are local government bodies that contract with GFL for comprehensive waste management services, including residential collection, recycling, and disposal, as well as managing public and often commercial waste within their jurisdictions. These entities are governmental and do not have public stock symbols.
- Commercial Businesses: This category encompasses a wide array of enterprises, from small businesses to large corporations, across various sectors such as retail, office buildings, restaurants, hospitality, and service industries. GFL provides solid waste collection, recycling, and disposal services tailored to their specific needs. This customer base is highly diverse and comprises numerous companies, none of which are typically identified as singular "major customers" representing a significant portion of GFL's revenue.
- Industrial Customers: GFL serves businesses engaged in manufacturing, construction, resource extraction, and other heavy industries. For these clients, GFL offers not only solid waste management but also specialized liquid waste services (e.g., hazardous waste, wastewater) and infrastructure & soil remediation. Similar to commercial customers, this category includes a vast number of diverse companies, and specific major public companies are not individually identifiable as major customers.
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Patrick Dovigi Founder, President & CEO, Chairman of the Board of Directors
Patrick Dovigi founded GFL Environmental in 2007 with a vision to create a comprehensive provider of environmental solutions. Prior to establishing GFL, he served as President for a Canadian environmental services firm from 2004 to 2007 and held Vice President positions at Brovi Investments (2002-2004) and Right Lease (1998-2002). He gained his initial experience in waste management while at Brovi Investments. Under his leadership, GFL has grown through numerous acquisitions of smaller companies. GFL negotiated a recapitalization with private equity firms BC Partners and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan in 2018. The company went public in March 2020, marking one of the largest IPOs in Toronto Stock Exchange history.
Luke Pelosi Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer
Luke Pelosi has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of GFL Environmental since October 2018. He initially joined GFL in January 2015 as Director of Mergers & Acquisitions, later becoming Executive Vice President, Corporate Development in October 2016, and interim Chief Financial Officer in January 2017. He played a key role in developing and executing the company's acquisition strategy alongside Patrick Dovigi. Before joining GFL, Mr. Pelosi was a Director in the M&A Advisory group at KPMG LLP, where he provided due diligence services to Canadian private equity market investors, indicating a background in managing companies backed by private equity firms from an advisory capacity.
Billy Soffera Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Solid Waste
Billy Soffera has been GFL Environmental's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Solid Waste since January 2025, having joined the company as Senior Vice President, Operations in May 2021. He brings over 35 years of leadership and operations experience within the solid waste industry. His previous roles include serving as Vice President at Waste Management, Inc., where he was responsible for integrating the Advanced Disposal Services, Inc. business from October 2020 to April 2021. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President, Operations at Advanced Disposal Services, Inc. from February 2015 to October 2020, and held increasingly senior positions at Republic Services, Inc. from March 2001 to February 2015.
Mindy Gilbert Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer
Mindy Gilbert joined GFL Environmental as Executive Vice-President and General Counsel in October 2018. Before her tenure at GFL, Ms. Gilbert was a lawyer and partner at Davies Ward Philips and Vineberg LLP for over 16 years. Her legal practice concentrated on corporate and commercial law, mergers and acquisitions, and capital markets. She advised clients on various matters, including domestic and international public and private debt and equity offerings, loan financings, and private equity-related transactions.
Joy Grahek Executive Vice-President, Strategic Initiatives
Joy Grahek holds the position of Executive Vice-President, Strategic Initiatives at GFL Environmental.
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The global shift towards a circular economy and aggressive waste reduction initiatives represents a clear emerging threat to GFL Environmental's long-term business model. GFL's revenues are largely derived from the collection, processing, and disposal of waste materials. A successful and widespread transition to a circular economy, characterized by significant reductions in waste generation, increased reuse of materials, extended product lifecycles, and advanced recycling technologies, would directly impact the volume of waste available for GFL's services. This trend, supported by increasing governmental regulations (e.g., extended producer responsibility laws, single-use plastic bans) and corporate sustainability targets, aims to decouple economic growth from waste generation, potentially leading to a shrinking addressable market for traditional waste management services over time.
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For GFL Environmental, the addressable markets for its main products and services in North America are sized as follows:
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Solid Waste Management: The North America Solid Waste Management Market is estimated at USD 76.28 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach USD 88.95 billion by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.12% during the forecast period (2025-2030). Another estimate places the North America Solid Waste Management Market at USD 331.09 billion in 2025, projected to reach USD 467.12 billion by 2035 with a CAGR of 3.5%.
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Liquid Waste Management: The North America Liquid Waste Management Market size is estimated at USD 89.38 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach USD 109.79 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 4.22%. North America also held the largest revenue share of 43% in the global liquid waste management market in 2024, which was valued at USD 100.31 billion.
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Soil Remediation (Soil Treatment): The North America Soil Treatment Market size is expected to reach USD 18.70 billion in 2025 and grow at a CAGR of 5.90% to reach USD 24.90 billion by 2030. In 2024, this market was estimated at USD 17.60 billion. The global soil remediation market, which includes North America, was estimated at USD 47.82 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach approximately USD 87.13 billion by 2034, growing at a CAGR of 6.89%.
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Here are the expected drivers of future revenue growth for GFL Environmental (symbol: GFL) over the next 2-3 years:
- Strategic Acquisitions: GFL Environmental has historically grown through strategic acquisitions, integrating smaller waste management companies to expand its service offerings and geographic reach. This strategy is expected to continue, with the company anticipating deploying approximately $700 million to $900 million annually on acquisitions, which are expected to contribute significantly to revenue in 2026 and beyond.
- Pricing Strategies: The company is implementing disciplined pricing strategies, including contract renewals and leveraging opportunities related to ancillary surcharges, to drive revenue growth. GFL expects full-year pricing to be around 6% and is working to shift its pricing strategy with clients away from being tied to the broader Consumer Price Index and toward an index that more accurately reflects the company's internal cost of inflation.
- Organic Volume Growth: GFL anticipates continued organic volume growth, supported by the benefits of recent growth investments and improvements in municipal solid waste (MSW) volumes.
- Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Programs: EPR programs, particularly in Canada, are expected to be a significant contributor to revenue growth. These programs are delivering business earlier than anticipated and are projected to add 75 basis points of incremental revenue growth in 2026, with further opportunities being pursued. GFL expects a revenue contribution of $285 million to $440 million from EPR, RNG, and self-help levers for the 2026 to 2028 period.
- Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) Projects: GFL is investing in renewable natural gas (RNG) projects, converting landfill gas into RNG. These initiatives are expected to generate new revenue streams and contribute to growth. The company plans to commission 15 renewable natural gas facilities in the coming years, which are projected to generate $175 million of Adjusted EBITDA from 2028. GFL's 2028 financial framework anticipates a revenue contribution from RNG, EPR, and self-help levers.
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Share Repurchases
- GFL Environmental announced a new share repurchase program (NCIB) from March 3, 2025, to March 2, 2026, allocating up to $2.25 billion from the net proceeds of its Environmental Services business sale to repurchase subordinate voting shares.
- Under this program, GFL is authorized to repurchase a maximum of 28,046,256 subordinate voting shares, representing 10% of the public float.
- As of March 31, 2025, GFL had purchased for cancellation a total of 31,725,083 subordinate voting shares, including 17,050,298 shares directly from BC Partners at US$46.92 per share and 7,056,027 shares in a secondary offering, in addition to shares bought under its NCIB.
Share Issuance
- In April 2021, certain selling shareholders completed a secondary offering of 17,500,000 subordinate voting shares at US$33.95 per share, generating total gross proceeds of US$594,125,000 for the selling shareholders, with GFL not receiving any proceeds.
- In November 2021, other selling shareholders intended to offer for sale 12,658,228 subordinate voting shares, from which GFL would not receive any proceeds.
- In August 2020, GFL announced plans to finance the acquisition of WCA Waste Corporation, in part, through the issuance of US$600 million of Series A convertible preferred shares to affiliates of HPS Investment Partners, LLC.
Inbound Investments
- In September 2025, GFL completed the sale of a significant stake in Green Infrastructure Partners (GIP) to private equity firm Energy Capital Partners, valuing GIP at $4.25 billion.
- From this GIP transaction, GFL received $200 million while retaining a 30.1% equity interest in GIP, valued at approximately $895 million.
- GFL's initial investment of $250 million in GIP in 2022 grew to approximately $1.1 billion in just over three years, representing a 340% return on its investment.
Outbound Investments
- GFL Environmental has actively pursued strategic acquisitions to expand its operations, completing 46 acquisitions in 2021 alone.
- Significant acquisitions include WCA Waste for approximately $1.2 billion and select Waste Management and Advanced Disposal assets for $0.86 billion in 2020.
- In 2021, GFL acquired Terrapure Environmental for approximately $744 million, enhancing its non-hazardous treatment and recycling capabilities. In 2023, GFL deployed $900 million into high-quality acquisitions.
Capital Expenditures
- GFL spent approximately $300 million on growth investments in 2024 and has targeted $325 million for 2025.
- Capital expenditures in 2023 and 2024 primarily focused on sustainability-related projects, including Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)-related investments.
- The company's largest RNG facility at the Arbor Hills landfill in Michigan became operational in late 2023, with three additional facilities anticipated to be commissioned by early 2025.