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Commitments and Contingencies
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2020
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies Commitments and Contingencies
Financial Instruments
The Company has obtained letters of credit, performance bonds and insurance policies for the performance of the following: landfill final capping, closure and post-closure requirements; certain collection, landfill and transfer station contracts; environmental remediation; and other obligations. Letters of credit are supported by the Company’s Revolver (Note 6).
The Company does not expect that any claims against or draws on these instruments would have a material adverse effect on the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements. The Company has not experienced any unmanageable difficulty in obtaining the required financial assurance instruments for its current operations. In an ongoing effort to mitigate risks of future cost increases and reductions in available capacity, the Company continues to evaluate various options to access cost-effective sources of financial assurance.
Insurance
The Company carries insurance coverage for protection of its assets and operations from certain risks including automobile liability, general liability, real and personal property, workers' compensation, directors' and officers' liability, pollution, legal liability and other coverages the Company believes are customary to the industry. The Company's exposure to loss for insurance claims is generally limited to the per incident deductible, or self-insured retention, under the related insurance policy. Its exposure, however, could increase if its insurers are unable to meet their commitments on a timely basis.
The Company has retained a significant portion of the risks related to its automobile, general liability, workers' compensation and health claims programs. For its self-insured retentions, the exposure for unpaid claims and associated expenses, including incurred but not reported losses, is based on an actuarial valuation and internal estimates. The accruals for these liabilities could be revised if future occurrences or loss development significantly differ from the Company's assumptions used. The Company does not expect the impact of any known casualty, property, environmental or other contingency to have a material impact on its financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
Landfill Remediation
In fiscal 2018, the Company observed surface anomalies in specific areas of a landfill and received a proposed consent order, from a state environmental regulatory agency, outlining conditions required to be met at the landfill. As of March 31, 2020, $14.8 of expenditures related to the remediation accrual estimates have been incurred and $11.8 remains on the consolidated balance sheet which are expected to be incurred through 2023. These accruals include costs for an enhanced de-watering system and the associated removal, treatment, and disposal of leachate at the landfill. This amount could increase or decrease as a result of actual costs incurred to completion. Although it is reasonably possible this amount could change as a result of actual cost incurred to completion, the Company is unable to estimate a range of potential exposure due to the uncertainty of the remediation efforts required due to the nature of the process being undertaken.




Litigation and Other Matters

The Company and certain of its subsidiaries have been named as defendants in various class action suits. Past suits have alleged the Company charged improper charges (fuel, administrative and environmental charges) that were in breach of the Company's service agreements. The Company reached a settlement for $9.0 (inclusive of plaintiff attorneys’ fees and costs), resolving four of these cases in fiscal 2019. One of these cases (the "Flaccus" suit) has not been settled and is still pending. Given the inherent uncertainties of litigation, including the early stage of the Flaccus case, the unknown size of any potential class, and legal and factual issues in dispute, the outcome of this case cannot be predicted and a range of loss, if any, cannot currently be estimated.
The Company is subject to various other proceedings, lawsuits, disputes and claims and regulatory investigations arising in the ordinary course of its business. Many of these actions raise complex factual and legal issues and are subject to uncertainties. Actions filed against the Company include commercial, customer, and employment-related claims. The plaintiffs in some actions seek unspecified damages or injunctive relief, or both. These actions are in various procedural stages, and some are covered in part by insurance. Although the Company cannot predict the ultimate outcome and the range of loss cannot be currently estimated, the Company does not believe that the eventual outcome of any such action could have a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.     
Multiemployer Defined Benefit Pension Plans
Approximately 13.6% of the Company’s workforce is covered by collective bargaining agreements with various local unions across its operating regions. As a result of some of these agreements, certain of the Company’s subsidiaries are participating employers in a number of trustee-managed multiemployer, defined benefit pension plans for the affected employees.
A complete or partial withdrawal from a multiemployer pension plan may occur if employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement vote to decertify a union from continuing to represent them. The Company is not aware of any such actions in connection with continuing operations. As a result of certain prior discontinued operations, the Company is potentially exposed to certain withdrawal liabilities.
The Company does not believe that any future withdrawals, individually or in the aggregate, from the multiemployer plans to which it contributes could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition or liquidity. However, such withdrawals could have a material adverse effect on the Company's results of operations for a particular reporting period, depending on the number of employees withdrawn in any future period and the financial condition of the multiemployer plan(s) at the time of such withdrawal(s).