CASELLA WASTE SYSTEMS INC

Our business is subject to a number of risks, including those identified in Item 1A. “Risk Factors” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, and the updated risk factor set forth below, that could have a material effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and/or liquidity and that could cause our operating results to vary significantly from period to period. We may disclose additional changes to our risk factors or disclose additional factors from time to time in our future filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The increasing focus on PFAS and other emerging contaminants may lead to increased compliance and remediation costs and litigation risks, which could adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations.

The regulatory environment for per - and polyfluoroalkyl substances (commonly referred to as “ PFAS”) is rapidly evolving, with increasing demands for enhanced environmental monitoring programs and advanced treatment technologies to mitigate PFAS contamination. Risks to the Company related to PFAS include regulatory risks, including the recent designation by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) of PFAS as hazardous substances, which could create Superfund liabilities under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended for all downstream recipients of PFAS, including passive receivers such as our landfills and transporters of biosolids, the establishment of federal and state drinking water standards and surface water criteria which set low thresholds for impacts to drinking water and surface water, the risk that states in which we operate will require stringent monitoring of PFAS at our landfills, the risk of material increases in landfill leachate treatment costs due to mandatory pre-treatment or otherwise, the risk that existing remedial sites will become more complex and that closed landfills will be under enhanced regulatory scrutiny, the risk that biosolids management will be impacted by restrictions on end uses and the risk that that pre-existing land application sites will be determined to contain PFAS. Any such liability is likely to be uninsurable, with no coverage likely under our pollution or product liability policies.