REPUBLIC SERVICES INC
For the period ended Dec 31, 2023. Filed Feb 29, 2024.
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FY2023 · Filed Feb 29, 2024
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Item 8. Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of Republic Services, Inc.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Republic Services, Inc. (the Company) as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, stockholders’ equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2023, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company at December 31, 2023 and 2022, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2023, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023, based on criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework) and our report dated February 28, 2024, expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Critical Audit Matters
The critical audit matters communicated below are matters arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matters below, providing separate opinions on the critical audit matters or on the accounts or disclosures to which they relate.
| Landfill Development Asset Amortization | |
| Description of the Matter | At December 31, 2023, the net book value of the Company’s landfill development assets totaled $4,745.4 million, and the associated landfill development asset amortization expense for 2023 was $470.9 million. Significant assumptions used in calculating the amortization expense include estimated future development costs associated with the land, permitting, cell construction and environmental structures of the landfill in relation to airspace consumed to date and total estimated available airspace. These assumptions have a significant effect on the total landfill development asset amortization expense. As discussed in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, costs and airspace estimates are developed at least annually, or more often if significant facts change. |
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| How We Addressed the Matter in Our Audit | Auditing landfill development asset amortization expense is complex due to the highly judgmental nature of the assumptions used in the calculation of the expense and required the involvement of specialists to assist us with evaluating estimated future development costs and certain assumptions to project total estimated available airspace. |
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| We tested controls that address the risks of material misstatement relating to the measurement and valuation of landfill development asset amortization expense. For example, we tested controls over the estimation of future landfill development costs and management’s review of the assumptions to project total estimated available airspace. | |
| To test the landfill development asset amortization expense, our audit procedures included, among others, assessing methodologies and testing the significant assumptions discussed above related to the underlying cost and airspace data used by the Company. We compared the significant assumptions used by management to historical trends and, when available, to comparable size landfills accepting the same type of waste. We also tested the completeness and accuracy of the historical data utilized in the development of the amortization expense. Regarding available airspace, we evaluated the Company’s estimation of the landfill disposal capacity through a comparison of airspace to historical estimates and annual aerial surveys. We involved EY engineering specialists to assist us with evaluating estimated future development costs and certain assumptions to project total estimated available airspace. | |
| Landfill Final Capping, Closure and Post-Closure Costs | |
| Description of the Matter | At December 31, 2023, the carrying value of the Company’s landfill final capping, closure and post-closure costs totaled $1,937.2 million. As discussed in Notes 2 and 8 to the consolidated financial statements, asset retirement obligations for final capping, closure and post-closure are measured at their estimated fair value. Management updates the assumptions used to estimate asset retirement obligations at least annually, or more often if significant facts change. These assumptions include estimated future costs associated with the final capping, closure and post-closure activities at each landfill, airspace consumed to date, estimated available airspace, projected annual tonnage volume, projected timing of capping, closure and post-closure activities and estimated inflation and discount rates. These assumptions have a significant effect on the estimated asset retirement obligation. |
| How We Addressed the Matter in Our Audit | Auditing the landfill asset retirement obligation is complex due to the highly judgmental nature of the assumptions used in the measurement process and required the involvement of specialists to assist us with evaluating the costs estimated for the capping, closure and post-closure activities and certain assumptions to project total estimated available airspace. |
| We tested controls that address the risks of material misstatement relating to the completeness, measurement and valuation of the asset retirement obligation. For example, we tested controls over management’s development of the landfill asset retirement obligation models to estimate the future liability and management’s review of data inputs and projections. | |
| To test the landfill asset retirement obligation, our audit procedures included, among others, assessing methodologies used by the Company, testing the completeness of activities included in the estimate (e.g., gas monitoring and leachate management) and testing the significant assumptions discussed above, as well as the underlying costs and other estimates used by the Company in its development of these assumptions. We compared the significant assumptions used by management to historical trends and, when available, to comparable size landfills accepting the same type of waste. We also tested the completeness and accuracy of the historical data utilized in preparing the estimate. We involved EY engineering specialists to assist us with evaluating the costs estimated for the capping, closure and post-closure activities and the reasons for significant changes in assumptions from historical trends and determined whether the change from the historical trend was appropriate and identified timely. EY engineering specialists were also involved in evaluating certain assumptions to project total estimated available airspace. |
/s/Ernst & Young LLP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2002.
Phoenix, Arizona
February 28, 2024
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