Casella Waste Systems, Inc. published its 2024 Sustainability Report, outlining its progress toward five key sustainability metrics, while highlighting significant achievements in several areas since its last report was issued in 2022.
“With this year’s report, we are pleased to highlight several areas of achievement, and exceedingly proud that our commitment to our team continues to shine through in several areas of reporting,” said Casella chairman and chief executive officer, John W. Casella. “The investments we have made in our people, infrastructure, and logistics have had a positive impact on the sustainability and strength of our business, while also benefiting our customers and the communities we serve.”
The Casella team has grown by more than 32 percent since 2022 and is approaching 5,000 total employees. Even with its growth, the company reported continued improvement in its safety performance, with its total recordable incident rate (TRIR) dropping nearly 20 percent since 2019. A key contributor to improving safety performance has been the company’s success in filling vacancies and maintaining near-full staffing levels, buoyed by the more than 300 drivers and technicians who have successfully trained at the company’s Kenneth A. Hier Sr. CDL Training Center with a focus on safety, service, and commitment to excellence.
Continued investments in infrastructure, innovation and education have the company currently positioned to achieve its materials management goal of recycling more than 2 million tons in 2030.
“Since 2019, we have increased the amount of material we recycle by more than 36 percent, representing nearly 400,000 tons of recyclables being put to a higher and better use,” Casella said. “In 2023, we completed a full retrofit of our largest recycling facility, while adding new facilities in New York and Pennsylvania through acquisition. Further investments in the critical infrastructure required to help achieve our materials management goals are scheduled to occur in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, positioning us to see tonnage growth in our resource solutions line of business in 2024 and beyond.”
The cumulative benefits of Casella’s investments in these core areas have led to the company’s recognition on Time Magazine’s America’s Best Midsized Companies 2024 list, which recognizes U.S. companies that generated between $100 million and $10 billion in revenue and have excelled in the areas of employee satisfaction, revenue growth, and sustainability transparency based on 15 different criteria measurements.