Casella prepares for impacts of COVID-19

Casella Waste Systems, Rutland, Vermont, is taking steps for business continuity as the company tackles the impacts of COVID-19. In a “virtual fireside chat” hosted by Stifel April 3, Casella’s leadership spoke of the steps the company is taking to prepare for an unknown future. 

Currently, only one of the company’s 2,500 employees has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, and 99 percent of personnel are working without symptoms. Casella’s CEO John Casella credits this, in part, to where the company operates, as roughly 65 percent of its business is in secondary or tertiary markets. 

In addition, more than 50 percent of the company’s back-office teams are working from home, a move Casella prepared for early on. 

“As we started to prepare for [COVID-19] three or four weeks ago, we had to really focus on the operating side to make sure we had contingency plans in place to continue to operate,” says Ned Coletta, Casella’s senior vice president and chief financial officer. With many groups not used to working from home, Coletta adds that the use of technology was necessary to create a flexible workplace. 

Moving forward, Casella has put its focus on two efforts: keeping the company’s employees safe and healthy and effectively serving its customers. Following the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations and looking to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Casella says it has increased the cleaning of its facilities, established appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) guidelines and implemented new policies and procedures. 

Casella also has deployed a priority response team, which consists of drivers, mechanics and supervisors who can transition between various operations to reduce potential service disruptions. 

By monitoring service levels and rebalancing the workforce, Casella says it has been able to flex variable costs and freeze discretionary capital expenditures. Although the company has been working to scale costs, Casella does not plan to hold customers strictly to terms. 

“If a small business comes in and says, ‘I’ve been shutdown due to [COVID-19], can you reduce my service or suspend it temporarily?’ we’re saying, ‘Sure, let’s do that,’” says Coletta. “In a crisis like this, loyalty is a two-way street, and we’re trying to be constructive with our customers through this crisis.”

He adds, “We’re not pulling out containers, all of our commercial assets are being left with our customers unless they specifically ask us to take it. ... The assets are there [and] we’re going to try to keep those customers even if we’re only servicing [them] once a month. The question is how quickly they’ll be able to ramp up their business [following the pandemic].”