Quest Resource Holding Corp: Form 10-K for the period ended Dec 31, 2022

Overview

Quest Resource Holding Corporation (“Quest”, “the Company”, “our company,” “we,” “us” and “our”) is a national provider of waste and recycling services to customers from across multiple industry sectors that are typically larger, multi-location businesses. We create customer-specific programs and perform the related services for the collection, processing, recycling, disposal, and tracking of waste streams and recyclables. Our programs and services enable our customers to address their business, sustainability and Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) goals and responsibilities.

We believe our services are comprehensive, innovative, and cost effective. Our services are designed to enable our business customers to capture the commodity value of their waste streams and recyclables, better manage their disposal and total operating costs, enhance their management of environmental risks, enhance their legal and regulatory compliance, and achieve their business and environmental goals while maximizing the efficiency of their assets. Our services currently focus on the waste streams and recyclables from big box grocers and other specialty retailers; automotive after-market operations such as automotive maintenance, quick lube, dealerships, and collision repair; transportation, logistics, and fleet operators; manufacturing and industrial facilities; multi-family and commercial properties; restaurant chains and food operations; malls and shopping centers; and construction and demolition projects. We currently concentrate on programs for recycling motor oil and automotive lubricants, oil filters, scrap tires, oily water, goods destruction, food waste, meat renderings, cooking oil and grease trap waste, plastics, cardboard, pallets, metal, glass, mixed paper, construction debris, as well as a large variety of regulated and non-regulated solid, liquid, and gas wastes. In addition, we offer products such as antifreeze and windshield washer fluid, dumpster and compacting equipment, and other minor ancillary services.

Quest also provides information and data that tracks and reports the detailed transactional and environmental results of our services and provides actionable data to improve business operations. The data we generate enables our customers to address their environmental goals and responsibilities and to report to internal and external parties such as employees, investors, business partners, and governmental agencies.

Industry Overview

The multi-billion-dollar solid waste collection and disposal business drives the overall waste industry. The size of the recycling industry has increased in recent years and is expected to continue to increase as environmental concerns increase, landfill space decreases, businesses and consumers seek alternatives to delivering their recyclables and disposables to landfills, and businesses are subject to increased expectations to exhibit and report on their environmental actions and impact. ESG reporting requirements have driven demand for comprehensive and reliable data. Although society and industry have increased the awareness of environmental issues, such as recycling, reuse, and proper disposal, waste production also continues to increase. Because of environmental concerns, local government regulations, and cost factors, it has become increasingly difficult to obtain the necessary permits to build any new landfills. There is recognition by U.S. public agencies, businesses, and consumers that many items deposited in landfills have commodity value or usability as material for new products. Improvements in recycling and reuse technologies and efficient secondary markets for recycled commodities have made recycling a cost-attractive alternative.

Regulatory measures and more stringent control of material bound for disposal make the management of solid waste a difficult problem. The EPA, and state and local governments are generally expected to continue the present trend of restricting the amount of potentially recyclable material bound for landfills. Governmental authorities have passed, or are reported to be contemplating, measures that require industrial and commercial companies to recycle all or a portion of their disposable materials and restrict the percentage of recyclable materials in any commercial load of disposable material. We believe that these measures, along with the economic value of recyclable materials, may create additional opportunities as proper disposal of materials becomes more specialized. Some large industrial and commercial companies have in-house personnel that handle their solid waste management and recycling responsibilities, but many have found that in-house handling of these responsibilities may not be an effective solution without adequate knowledge, experience, resources, and staff support. We offer these companies and other establishments a solution to this increasing burden.

Our Strategy

Our goal is to be a leading environmental services company. Key elements of our strategy to achieve our goal include the following:

• Recycling Services. We intend to continue to enhance the comprehensive, one-stop services that we provide for the waste streams and recyclables produced by our business customers.
• Emphasize Monetary and other Benefits of Recycling. We intend to emphasize the monetary advantages of recycling by demonstrating to businesses their ability to capture the commodity value of their waste streams and recyclables, better manage their disposal and total operating cost, enhance their management of environmental risks, enhance their legal and regulatory compliance, and achieve their business, sustainability, and ESG goals.
• Pursue Strategic Acquisitions. We plan to capitalize on the significant market, technology, and process opportunities available in the environmental and recycling services industry. As a result of our considerable industry experience and relationships, we believe we are well positioned to identify and evaluate acquisition candidates and assess their growth prospects, the quality of their management teams, their local reputation with customers, and the suitability of their locations. We believe we are regarded as an attractive acquiror because of (1) our historical performance of successfully developing, servicing and growing customer relationships; (2) the experience and reputation of our management team within the industry; (3) our ability to bring our vendor network to service accounts; (4) our ability to integrate customer service, invoicing, accounting and other financial functions into our company, which generally enables the management of an acquired company to continue their involvement in the combined company by focusing on existing and new customers; (5) the ability of management and employees of acquired companies to participate in our potential growth and expansion through a combination of stock ownership, performance linked incentives, and career advancement opportunities; and (6) the ability to offer liquidity to the owners of acquired companies through the receipt of common stock or cash.
• Expand our Customer Base. We intend to continue to expand the customer base for our services by focusing on the expertise we have gained and the value proposition that we offer to our business customers in terms of overall improved waste program economics, recyclable commodity value, flexible programs, broad service offerings, data reporting, and national capacities that we believe provides us with competitive advantages in expanding our customer base.
• Expand into New Customer Verticals. We plan to expand to serve growing industries that we do not currently service, but that generate waste streams and recyclables that can benefit from our ability to manage a large variety of waste streams and recyclables, respond quickly to service requests, and provide what we consider industry-leading collection, processing, and data reporting.
• Expand the Types of Materials Covered by our Services. We plan to expand the types of waste streams and recyclables covered by our services. To date, our revenue has been generated primarily from our solutions for used oil, oil filters, scrap tires, grease and cooking oil, solid waste, food waste, metals, cardboard, and regulated materials. We believe that we can provide value to our business customers by servicing a larger portion of disposable and recyclable materials, including construction and debris waste.
• Maintain Virtual Facilities and Equipment. We plan to continue to pursue an “asset light” strategy that utilizes third-party vendors or subcontractors for the collection, sorting, and processing of recyclable and waste materials for businesses. This strategy results in a scalable business model that enables us to concentrate on our core competencies of developing service solutions that are better aligned to each customer’s needs and selling recyclable materials at volumes that provide favorable prices; enables us to render our services on a national basis without the need for an extensive workforce, multiple facilities, or numerous vehicles; allows us to negotiate with multiple subcontractors to optimize our pricing; and reduces our capital expenditures and working capital requirements.
• Leverage Governmental and Social Factors Expanding Recycling. We intend to leverage the demands by governmental authorities and by the public to expand efforts to recycle materials because of concerns about sustainability, greenhouse gases, and other environmental concerns, including the proliferation of ESG initiatives as evidenced by the SEC’s recent proposed rules.
• Pursue Strategic Technologies and Processes. We plan to identify, investigate, develop, and deliver new technologies and processes that we believe have the potential to contribute additional economic and financial value.

Our Environmental Services

Recycling and Waste Services

We provide businesses across multiple industry sectors with a single source service solution for the reuse, recycling, and disposal of a wide variety of waste streams and recyclables generated by their operations. We provide a single point of contact for managing the wide variety of disposables and recyclables produced. Our services can help our customers better manage their operational expenses, maximize the value of their recyclable commodities, comply with federal, state and local regulations, and help them foster environmental stability and sustainability. We can provide disposal and recycling services for virtually all forms of solids and liquids, although our current services primarily relate to used motor oil, oil filters, scrap tires, solid waste, metals, grease, cooking oil, food waste, expired food products, glass, cardboard, paper, industrial cleaning (separator cleaning and tank cleaning), plastics, construction debris, universal waste (batteries, mercury, lights), regulated waste, and electronic devices.

In addition, we help customers to safely transport, treat, and dispose of a full spectrum of non-recyclable regulated waste.

Our value proposition to our business customers is simple. We seek to

• ensure our customers can focus on their core businesses instead of waste disposal and recycling;
• provide cost-effective choices that improve overall operational economics and maximize the value of recyclable commodities;
• help our customers with flexible programs that work toward sustainability and ESG initiatives by lowering the percentage of the waste streams that must be disposed of in landfills and providing the necessary data to report accurate and complete results;
• assist our customers with liability protection and services to assist with environmental compliance; and
• provide our customers with a centralized point of contact with the convenience of 24/7/365 support.

Many waste materials (such as scrap metal, cardboard, plastics, used cooking oil, and automotive fluids) have commodity value that can be recovered and converted into new products and resources. Recovering valuable materials is a key factor in lower-waste and zero-waste initiatives, and presents a profitable opportunity for businesses. The recovery of valuable materials is a strong motivator to educate businesses and consumers about proper disposal.

We provide our services on a national basis as well as in certain international regions. We currently service tens of thousands of locations for various customers throughout the United States (including Puerto Rico) and Canada. Our customers generally have multiple locations. We continue to broaden the range of industries we serve and the nature and extent of the services we provide, which enables us to constantly target new customers and provide additional services to existing customers.

Our recycling services often reduce our customers’ disposal costs by reducing the level of disposable material delivered to landfills and capturing the commodity value of their waste streams and recyclables. We are independent of any specific materials hauler or recycling facility operator, which allows us to seek the best services and optimize the cost of services.

We provide certain industries and businesses with specialized services, such as the following:

• Automotive, Fleet and Industry Services. We provide a selection of services or a turn-key option involving the handling of scrap tires, HDPE plastics, used oil, used oil filters, parts cleaners, paint wastes, industrial fluids, used antifreeze, regulated waste, wastewater, and spent chemicals.
• Construction Services. We help construction site managers across the United States recycle construction waste, including cardboard, plastics, metal, pallets, wood, drywall, and concrete. In addition, we provide temporary containers, offices, storage, toilets, eye washing stations, and water holding tanks.
• Food/Organic Waste. We provide recycling programs that focus on the highest use of food waste according to the EPA’s Food Recovery Hierarchy. Our programs focus on various types of food facilities (grocers, manufacturers, distributors, etc.) to capture the maximum amount of food and other organic waste material and to use the most valuable recovery process available to meet their business and sustainability goals.
• Manufacturing Services. We collect and recycle waste streams that are unique to certain manufacturing facilities and can many times be sold as a commodity to offset operating costs for the customers.
• Solid Waste. We began offering solid waste collection as a way of becoming a one-stop shop for existing and prospective customers. The solid waste business provides incremental revenue streams, rounds out our offerings, and provides opportunities to expand into other specialized services.

Landfill Diversion of Food Waste

According to the EPA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, approximately one-third of the nation’s food goes to waste. The EPA has found that discarded food is one of the largest components (depending on classification) of the nation’s solid waste. The issue of how to reduce such waste is critical. We develop targeted programs to address these issues.

Our food waste program seeks to reduce the amount of produce, bakery, deli materials, expired dairy, and other food and beverage products in landfills and to find a better solution. A large portion of the nation’s disposable material consists of organics, produce, bakery and deli items, dairy products, and vegetation trimmings, all of which can be recycled. Our program offers a variety of options, including the following:

• Reduction. We can study a customer’s current organic material management situation and determine how best to alter current ordering and display options to reduce landfill use.
• Animal Feed. Through our network of vendors, we can channel a percentage of organic material into a process in which the product is dehydrated and put back into animal feed.
• Waste-to-Energy. We can offer a process that involves the creation of energy in the form of electricity through the use of anaerobic digestion. Anaerobic digestion is a series of processes in which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. This process is widely used as a renewable energy source because it produces a methane and carbon dioxide rich bio-gas suitable for energy production, which is helping to replace fossil fuels. The nutrient-rich digestate also can be used as fertilizer. We currently employ a network of service providers that utilize this method as a form of organic disposal.
• Compost/Land Application/Soil Treatment. We can offer composting or land application/soil treatments for organic materials. In composting or land application/soil treatments, organic materials are placed either in a custom vessel or spread out and allowed to decompose naturally. Composting sites have several options for turning and rotating the product to maximize the nutrient content of the end product and speed the turn-around time. Land application/soil treatment facilities typically do not regularly turn the product or add any components and allow nature to return the nutrients to the host soil on its own timetable. Composting facilities also typically bag or sell the product by the truck/train load to individuals or municipalities, whereas land application/soil treatment facilities leave the product where it is initially placed. We have employed these methods with several customers across the country.

Data and Reporting

The wide variety of recycling and waste services, volumes, diversion data, and related documents are organized in a cloud-based, centralized data collection providing operational insight, environmental tracking, and flexible reporting.

Sales and Marketing

We market our services throughout the United States primarily through a direct sales force and selected strategic partnerships. Our sales and marketing efforts focus on emphasizing the benefits of our nationwide, one-stop, comprehensive service offerings and the ability to improve overall customers’ operational economics, maximize the value of their recyclable commodities, and foster the benefits of environmental sustainability. We plan to continue to increase our sales and marketing efforts.

We have targeted various industries for marketing our sustainability services. Some of the industries that we target and the nature of the products and services that we market to those industries are as follows:

• Automotive/Transportation
• Retail service providers (car dealerships, tire dealerships, quick lubes, aftermarket automotive parts and accessories retailers, automotive service franchises, car washes)
• Trucking and fleet
• Car and equipment rental companies
• Manufacturing
• Packaging
• Food and beverages
• Machinery and industrial
• Chemicals and lubricants
• Hospitality and Retail
• Grocers
• Big box
• Specialty
• Restaurants
• Hotels and stadiums
• Malls and shopping centers
• Construction and Demolition
• Commercial
• Multi-family
• Industrial
• Commercial and Multi-family Property Management

Customers

We generally enter into multi-year contracts with our customers that are designed to provide us with recurring monthly revenue. These contracts structure our revenue primarily in three ways: fixed fee, contracted pricing, or revenue from the sale of commodities.

Our business depends to a significant extent on revenue from our largest customers. Any material reduction in the business we do with those customers could have an adverse effect on our company. Two customers accounted for 24% of our revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022, and two customers accounted for 38% of our revenue for the year ended December 31, 2021.

We believe that we are unique in our ability to offer comprehensive national solutions in the highly fractionalized waste, disposal, and recycling service business. Through customer service driven culture, national presence, logistics management, compliance, and commodity brokerage, our solution delivers the critical knowhow and experience necessary to implement and execute multi-point reuse, recycling, disposal, and waste management services.

Competitors

Recycling and Waste Disposal Services

The recycling and waste disposal industry as a whole is dominated by large multi-billion dollar companies, such as Waste Management and Republic Services. To date, these large companies have concentrated on their traditional business of collecting waste for disposal in their landfills rather than recycling, which reduces the need for landfills. The strategies of these large companies could change at any time, and we could begin to experience substantially increased competition from them. These companies have substantially greater market recognition, substantially larger customer bases, and substantially greater financial, technical, marketing, distribution, and other resources than we possess and that afford them competitive advantages over us. As a result, they may be able to devote greater resources to the promotion and sale of services similar to those we offer, to provide comparable services at lower prices, and to introduce new solutions and respond to customer requirements more quickly than we can.

Scope of Competitors’ Services

Our services address a broad and comprehensive scope of materials such as motor oil, scrap tires, grease, meat, organics, regulated waste, construction debris, cardboard, pallets, plastics, metals, and solid waste. Most of our competitors specialize in only one or a few of these service areas. In delivering our services, we have subcontracted at times to our competitors, thereby utilizing them as our subcontractors.

While we have many competitors for certain aspects of our business, we are unaware of any provider that provides the wide breadth of our waste, recycling, and data services, deliverable across all locations in the United States and Canada, with flexibility to adapt and modify programs and to comprehensively deliver sustainable solutions.

State and Federal Environmental Regulations

We use our best efforts to be in compliance with federal, state, and local environmental laws, including the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended, the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act, as amended, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, as amended, the Clean Air Act, as amended, and the Clean Water Act. Such compliance has not historically constituted a material expense to us.

The collection and disposal of solid waste and rendering of related environmental services as well as recycling operations and issues are subject to federal, state, and local requirements, which regulate health, safety, the environment, zoning, and land-use. Federal, state, and local regulations vary, but generally govern hauling, disposal, and recycling activities and the location and use of facilities and also impose restrictions to prohibit or minimize air and water pollution. In addition, governmental authorities have the power to enforce compliance with these regulations and to obtain injunctions or impose fines in the case of violations, including criminal penalties. The EPA and various other federal, state, and local environmental, health, and safety agencies and authorities, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the Department of Labor, administer those regulations.

We strive to conduct our operations in compliance with applicable laws and regulations and to assist our customers in their compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations. While such amounts expended in environmental compliance in the past or that we anticipate spending in the future have not had and are not expected to have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or operations, the possibility remains that technological, regulatory, or enforcement developments, the results of environmental studies, or other factors could materially alter this expectation.

Each state in which we operate has its own laws and regulations governing solid waste disposal, water and air pollution and, in most cases, releases and cleanup of hazardous substances and liability for such matters. Several governmental authorities have enacted laws that will require counties to adopt comprehensive plans to reduce the volume of solid waste landfills through waste planning, composting, recycling, or other programs. Legislative and regulatory measures to mandate or encourage waste reduction at the source and materials recycling also are under consideration by Congress and the EPA.

Finally, various states have enacted, or are considering enacting, laws that restrict the disposal within the state of solid or hazardous wastes generated outside the state. While courts have declared unconstitutional laws that overtly discriminate against out of state waste, courts have upheld some laws that are less overtly discriminatory. Challenges to other such laws are pending.

Equipment and Installation

We currently pursue an “asset light” strategy that utilizes third-party subcontractors for the collection, sorting, and processing of recyclable and waste materials for businesses. While we own a limited amount of compacting and other service equipment, we do not own significant recycling or waste management assets, such as trucks or landfills, or have a significant number of employees devoted to in-the-field recycling operations. As part of our operations, we maintain strong relationships with a multitude of subcontractors. Our more than 3,500 third-party relationships currently provide us with an estimated 30,000 trained professionals, 25,000 trucks, and over 1,000 recycling facilities. This strategy results in a scalable business model that enables us to concentrate on our core competencies of developing service solutions that are attractive to customers and the sale of recyclable materials at the highest prices, enables us to render our services on a national basis without the need for multiple facilities or numerous vehicles, allows us to negotiate with multiple providers for the best cost of service, and reduces our capital expenditures and working capital requirements.

Employees

As of December 31, 2022, we employed a total of 203 persons, of whom 197 were full time employees. Three were executive employees, 113 were administrative and customer services employees, 74 were accounting and finance employees and 13 were sales and marketing employees. We consider our relationship with our employees to be good. None of our employees are represented by a union in collective bargaining with us.

Intellectual Property

Trademarks

Our trademarks are important to the success of our business.

We own or have filed applications for numerous federally registered trademarks and logos, including the following:

• QUEST RESOURCE MANAGEMENT GROUP (and “Circle” design);
• QUEST RESOURCE HOLDING CORPORATION (and “Q” design);
• YOUCHANGE;
• SUSTAINABILITY DELIVERED;
• GENEX ANTI-FREEZE GROUP (and “X” design);
• GENEX WINDSHIELD WASHER FLUID (and “X” design);
• TO CHALLENGE, MANAGE, AND INFORM; and
• PROGANICS.

Our History

We were incorporated in Nevada in July 2002 under the name BlueStar Financial Group, Inc. Prior to 2010, we were a “shell company” under the rules of the SEC. On March 30, 2010, we (i) closed a transaction to acquire Youchange, Inc., an Arizona corporation, or “Youchange”, as a wholly owned subsidiary, (ii) ceased being a shell company, and (iii) experienced a change in control in which the former stockholders of Youchange acquired control of our company. In May 2010, we changed our name to YouChange Holdings Corp.

On October 17, 2012, immediately prior to closing a merger transaction with Earth911, Inc., or “Earth911”, we filed Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation to (i) change our name to Infinity Resources Holdings Corp., (ii) increase our shares of common stock, par value $.001 per share (the “Common Stock”), authorized for issuance, (iii) authorize shares of preferred stock to be designated in series or classes as our board of directors may determine, (iv) effect a reverse split of our Common Stock, and (v) divide our board of directors into classes, as nearly equal in number as possible. On October 17, 2012, we closed the merger transaction, or the “Earth911 Merger”, to acquire Earth911 as a wholly-owned subsidiary and experienced a change in control in which the former stockholders of Earth911 acquired control of our company.

On July 16, 2013, we acquired all of the issued and outstanding membership interests of Quest Resource Management Group, LLC, or “QRMG”, held by Quest Resource Group LLC, or “QRG”, comprising 50% of the membership interests of QRMG, or the “QRMG Interests.” Our wholly owned subsidiary, Earth911, held the remaining 50% of the membership interests of QRMG for several years. Concurrently with our acquisition of the QRMG Interests, we assigned the QRMG Interests to Earth911 so that Earth911 now holds 100% of the issued and outstanding membership interests of QRMG. On October 28, 2013, we changed our name to Quest Resource Holding Corporation, increased our shares of Common Stock authorized for issuance, and changed our trading symbol to “QRHC.”

On February 20, 2018, we entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement with Earth Media Partners, LLC to sell certain assets of our wholly owned subsidiary, Earth 911, related to the Earth911.com website business in exchange for an aggregate earn-out amount of approximately $350,000 and a 19% interest in Earth Media Partners, LLC. Earth911 was subsequently renamed Quest Sustainability Services, Inc.

On October 19, 2020, we acquired substantially all of the assets used in the business of Green Remedies Waste and Recycling, Inc. ("Green Remedies"), a leading provider of independent environmental services, particularly in multi-family housing, located in Burlington, NC.

On December 7, 2021, we acquired all of the outstanding membership interests of RWS Facility Services, LLC (“RWS”), a full-service management company engaged in the brokering of recycling, waste and sustainability solutions, located in Chadds Ford, PA.

Recent Developments

On February 10, 2022, we acquired an independent environmental services company that primarily services customers in the northeast region of the United States for approximately $3.35 million. This acquisition was paid in cash and was financed with a draw down on the term loan pursuant to the existing Credit Agreement with Monroe Capital as defined in Note 3 to the consolidated financial statements.

Available Information

Our principal executive offices are located at 3481 Plano Parkway, Suite 100, The Colony, Texas 75056, and our telephone number is (972) 464-0004. Our website address is https://investors.qrhc.com. The information on our website is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K or in any other report or document we file with the SEC.

We file reports with the SEC, including Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and any other filings required by the SEC. Through our website, we make available free of charge our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments to those reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC.

The public may read and copy any materials we file with, or furnish to, the SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549. The public may obtain information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. The SEC maintains an Internet site at www.sec.gov (http://www.sec.gov) that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC.

An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. Certain factors may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including our consolidated financial statements and related notes. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties that we are unaware of, or that we currently believe are not material, may also become important factors that adversely affect our business. If any of the following risks actually occurs, our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flow, and future prospects could be seriously harmed. This could cause the trading price of our Common Stock to decline and result in the loss of all or part of your investment.

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

We have incurred historical net losses and could have net losses in the future as we take steps to expand our business, which may negatively impact our ability to achieve our business objectives.

As a result of historical operating losses, we had an accumulated deficit of $102,756,967 as of December 31, 2022. We expect to continue to make significant expenditures and incur substantial expenses as we continue to develop our business, expand our customer base, expand the recycling services we offer, increase the types of materials covered by our recycling services, enhance our technologies, implement internal systems and infrastructure, and hire additional personnel. As a result, we may incur losses as we expand our business. There is no assurance that we will maintain profitability in the near future or at all. Our ability to achieve and maintain profitability depends on a number of factors, including the pricing of our services, market acceptance of our services, and other factors, some of which are set forth under “Risk Factors” or are included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. If we incur substantial losses and are unable to secure additional financing, we could be forced to discontinue or curtail our business operations; sell assets at unfavorable prices; refinance existing debt obligations on terms unfavorable to us; or merge, consolidate, or combine with a company with greater financial resources in a transaction that may be unfavorable to us.

Our business depends to a certain extent upon our largest customers, and any material reduction in our business with those customers could have an adverse effect on our company.

The success of our business depends to a certain extent on our relationship with our largest customers. Any material reduction in the business we do with those customers could have an adverse effect on our company. Two customers accounted for 24% of our revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022, and two customers accounted for 38% of our revenue for the year ended December 31, 2021. Our contractual arrangements with our major customers generally are on a multi-year basis and pertain to the management of only certain forms of materials. Our failure to maintain our business with our largest customers or any other large customer could have an adverse effect on our business.

Although we have long-term relationships with many of the customers to which we provide recycling services, their ability to cancel, reduce, or delay our service offerings to them could reduce our revenue and increase our costs.

Although customers for our services, including our largest customers, generally enter into multi-year contracts, typically from two to three years, they do not typically provide us with firm, long-term volume commitments. As a result, our customers are able to cancel, reduce, or delay our services to them at any time. If our service offerings are cancelled, delayed, or reduced, our revenue would decline.

We may lose a substantial portion of our recycling services business if certain materials are classified as “waste.”

Some of the municipalities in which we provide services for certain customers have entered into contractual arrangements with their waste haulage companies that require them to permit those waste haulage companies to remove and dispose of “waste” or “solid waste” within those municipalities. If materials, and in particular organic materials, that we typically obtain and dispose of are considered “waste” or “solid waste,” then our customers may be required to allow the waste haulage companies to remove those materials, and in general either our customers or the municipalities in which they are located must compensate those waste haulage companies based on the metric set forth in the relevant contracts or franchise agreements with those waste haulage companies. If, however, the materials are classified as “raw material,” as “commodities,” or as another designation other than “waste” or “solid waste,” our customers may allow us to obtain the recyclable materials. If it is ultimately found that certain materials constitute “waste” or “solid waste,” a significant portion of our anticipated revenue stream could be lost, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, the growth of our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

To expand our recycling and waste services business, we must attract additional customers and expand the services we offer.

Although we plan to increase our recycling and waste services business, the ability to expand our overall recycling and waste management services and reduce our dependence on our largest customers will require us to attract additional customers and expand the services we offer.

Our success depends on our ability to successfully expand, operate, and manage our operations. Our ability to expand successfully will depend upon a number of factors, including the following:

• the continued development of our business;
• the hiring, training, and retention of additional personnel;
• the ability to enhance our operational, financial, and management systems;
• the availability of adequate financing;
• competitive factors;
• general economic and business conditions;
• the ability to leverage on the factors expanding the growth of recycling;
• the ability to expand our customer base, the types of recyclable materials covered by our services, and our network of third-party service providers;
• the ability to implement new methods for revenue generation; and
• the ability to expand our relationships with third parties that are also engaged in activities relating to reducing, reusing, and recycling.

We may not be able to enhance our existing recycling, reuse, and proper disposal solutions and develop new solutions in a timely manner.

Our future operating results will depend to a significant extent on our ability to continue to provide efficient and innovative recycling, reuse, and disposal services that compare favorably with alternative services on the basis of cost, performance, and customer preferences. Our success in maintaining and growing with our existing customers and attracting new customers depends on various factors, including the following:

• innovative development of new services for customers;
• maintenance of quality standards;
• efficient and cost-effective services; and
• utilization of advances in technology.

Our inability to enhance our existing services and develop new services on a timely basis could harm our operating results and impede our growth.

We rely on independent third-party subcontractors to provide recycling services to our customers, and any interruptions of these arrangements could increase our costs, disrupt our services, and result in our inability to service our recycling customers, which would adversely affect our business.

We outsource the collection, processing, recycling, and disposal of waste streams and recyclables to independent third-party subcontractors. We rely on our subcontractors to maintain high levels of service. The loss of our relationships with our subcontractors, or their failure to conduct their services for us as anticipated in terms of cost, quality, and timeliness could adversely affect our ability to service our customers in accordance with required service, quality, and performance requirements. If this were to occur, the resulting decline in profitability could harm our business. Securing new high-quality and cost-effective subcontractors frequently is time-consuming and may not be successful, which could result in reduced revenue and various unforeseen operational problems.

Our subcontractors may maintain their own operations or serve other customers, a number of which may provide them with more business than we do. As a result, our subcontractors could determine to prioritize their capacity for their own operations or for other customers or reduce or eliminate services for us on short notice. If we have any such problems, we may be unable to service our customers in a cost-effective, high-quality, or timely manner, particularly in certain geographical areas, which may adversely affect our business and operating results. Our subcontractors also may seek to compete with us for customers they serve on our behalf or potential customers that we desire to serve.

We may face potential environmental liabilities that may not be covered by our insurance, and changes in insurance costs and availability may also impact our financial results.

We may incur liabilities for damage to the environment as a result of the operations of our third-party subcontractors. While we do not conduct physical haulage, recycling, or disposal operations, we retain third-party service providers to carry on those activities. These operations may expose us to liability for environmental damages, in some cases even if we did not directly cause the environmental damage. Further, under our agreements with our customers, we are often required to indemnify our customers from any liabilities or claims arising out of our actions or those of our subcontractors and from any release, threatened release, handling, or storage of hazardous and other materials from our customers’ premises as a result of or connected with the performance of services by us or our subcontractors to our customers. If we were to incur substantial liability for environmental damage, our or our subcontractors’ insurance coverage may not fully cover or may be inadequate to cover such liability. Also, because of the variable condition of the insurance market, we may experience future increases in self-insurance levels, increased retention levels, and increased premiums. This could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

Fluctuations in prices for recycled commodities that we sell to third parties may adversely affect our revenue and to a lesser extent our operating income and cash flows.

We process a variety of recyclable materials, such as metal, tires, motor oil and oil filters, food waste, meat rendering, cooking oil, grease, and cardboard, for sale to third parties, and we may directly or indirectly receive proceeds from the sale of such recyclable materials. Our results of operations may be affected by changing prices or market requirements for recyclable materials. The resale and purchase prices of, and market demand for, recyclable materials can be volatile because of changes in economic conditions and numerous other factors beyond our control. These fluctuations may affect the cost of and demand for our services and our future revenue, operating income, and cash flows. For example, a decline in oil prices would have an adverse effect on our revenue.

A significant disruption in our computer systems or a cybersecurity breach could adversely affect our operations.

We rely extensively on our computer systems to manage a variety of our business processes. Our systems are subject to damage or interruption from various sources, including power outages, computer and telecommunications failures, computer viruses, cybersecurity breaches, vandalism, severe weather conditions, catastrophic events, and human error. Our disaster recovery planning cannot account for all eventualities. If our systems are damaged, fail to function properly, or otherwise become unavailable, we may incur substantial costs to repair or replace them, and we may experience loss of critical data and interruptions or delays in our ability to perform critical functions, which could adversely affect our business and operating results. Any compromise of our data security could also result in a violation of applicable privacy and other laws, significant legal and financial exposure, damage to our reputation, loss or misuse of the information, and a loss of confidence in our data security measures, which could harm our business.

We rely on third-party technology, server, and hardware providers for our operations and for maintaining our data, and a failure of service by these providers could adversely affect our business and reputation.

We rely upon third-party data center providers to host our main servers. In the event that these providers experience any interruption in operations or cease operations for any reason or if we are unable to agree on satisfactory terms for continued hosting relationships, we would be forced to enter into relationships with other service providers or assume hosting responsibilities ourselves. If we are forced to switch hosting facilities, we may not be successful in finding alternative service providers on acceptable terms or in hosting the computer servers ourselves. We may also be limited in our remedies against these providers in the event of a failure of service. We also rely on third-party providers for components of our technology platform, such as hardware and software providers and domain name registrars. A failure or limitation of service or available capacity by any of these third-party providers could adversely affect our business.

Problems with our computer and communication systems may harm our business.

An element of our strategy is to generate and provide content, data, and reporting on our website portals to and from third parties. Accordingly, the satisfactory performance, reliability, and availability of our systems, transaction-processing systems, and communications infrastructure are critical to our reputation and our ability to attract and retain customers, as well as to maintain adequate customer service levels. We may experience periodic systems interruptions. Any substantial increase in the volume of traffic on our infrastructure may require us to expand and upgrade our technology, transaction-processing systems, and other features. We can provide no assurance that we will be able to project accurately the rate or timing of increases, if any, in the use of our infrastructure or timely expand and upgrade our systems and infrastructure to accommodate such increases.

We may be subject to intellectual property claims that create uncertainty about ownership of technology essential to our business and divert our managerial and other resources.

There has been a substantial amount of litigation regarding intellectual property rights. We can provide no assurance that third parties will not claim infringement by us with respect to our current or future services, trademarks, or other proprietary rights. Our success depends, in part, on our ability to protect our intellectual property and to operate without infringing the intellectual property rights of others in the process. There can be no assurance that any of our intellectual property will be adequately safeguarded or that it will not be challenged by third parties. We may be subject to intellectual property infringement claims that would be costly to defend, could limit our ability to use certain critical technologies, and may divert our technical and management personnel from their normal responsibilities. We may not prevail in any of these suits. An adverse determination of any litigation or defense proceedings could cause us to pay substantial damages, including treble damages, if we willfully infringe and also could increase the risk of our patent applications not being issued.

Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation. In addition, during the course of this kind of litigation, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions, or other interim proceedings or developments in the litigation. If these results are perceived to be negative, it could have an adverse effect on our business.

The waste and recycling industries are subject to extensive government regulation, and existing or future regulations may adversely affect our current or future operations, increase our costs of operations, or require us to make additional capital expenditures.

Stringent government regulations at the federal, state, and local level may have substantial impact on our business, our third-party service providers, and our customers. A large number of complex laws, rules, orders, and interpretations govern environmental protection, health, safety, land use, zoning, transportation, and related matters. Among other things, these regulations may restrict the business of our third-party service providers’ and our customers’ operations and adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows by imposing conditions, such as the following:

• limitations on siting and constructing new recycling, waste disposal, transfer, or processing facilities or expanding existing facilities;
• limitations, regulations, or levies on collection and disposal prices, rates, and volumes;
• limitations or bans on disposal or transportation of out-of-state materials or certain categories of materials; or
• mandates regarding the disposal of solid waste, including requirements to recycle rather than landfill certain disposables.

Regulations affecting the siting, design, and closure of landfills could require our third-party service providers or customers to undertake investigatory or remedial activities, curtail operations, or close landfills temporarily or permanently. Future changes in these regulations may require our third-party service providers or our customers to modify, supplement, or replace equipment or facilities. The costs of complying with these regulations could be substantial, which may reduce the ability or willingness of our customers to use our services and adversely affect our results of operations.

Environmental advocacy groups and regulatory agencies have been focusing considerable attention on the emissions of greenhouse gases and their potential role in climate change. The adoption of laws and regulations to implement controls of greenhouse gases, including the imposition of fees or taxes, could adversely affect the operations of enterprises with which we do business. Additionally, certain states may adopt air pollution control regulations that are more stringent than existing and proposed federal regulations. Changing environmental regulations could require us or enterprises with which we do business to take any number of actions, including the purchase of emission allowances or installation of additional pollution control technology, and could make some operations less profitable, which could reduce the ability or willingness of our customers to use our services and adversely affect our results of operations. In addition, the potential impacts of climate change on our operations are highly uncertain. Although the financial impact of these potential changes is not reasonably estimable at this time, our operations in certain locations and those of our customers and suppliers could potentially be adversely affected, which could adversely affect our sales, profitability and cash flows.

Price increases may not be adequate to offset the impact of increased costs and may cause us to lose volume.

From time to time, our competitors may reduce the price of their services in an effort to expand their market share. General economic and market-specific conditions, as well as the concentration of our business with major companies, may also limit our ability to raise prices. As a result of these factors, we may be unable to offset increases in costs, improve our operating margins, and obtain returns through price increases.

We face intense competition from larger, more established companies, and we may not be able to compete effectively, which could reduce demand for our recycling services.

The waste materials industry as a whole is dominated by large national players, such as Waste Management and Republic Services. To date, these large companies have concentrated on their traditional business of collecting waste for disposal in their landfills rather than recycling. The strategies of these large companies could change at any time, and we could begin to experience substantially increased competition from them. These companies have substantially greater market recognition, substantially larger customer bases, and substantially greater financial, technical, marketing, distribution, and other resources than we possess and that afford them competitive advantages over us. As a result, they are able to devote greater resources to the promotion and sale of services similar to those that we provide, to provide comparable services at lower prices, and to introduce new solutions and respond to customer requirements more quickly than we can.

Our ability to compete successfully in the recycling services market depends on a number of factors, both within and outside our control. These factors include the following:

• our success in designing and introducing new solutions;
• our ability to predict the evolving needs of our customers and to convince them to use our services;
• our ability to meet our customer’s requirements in terms of cost, reliability, speed, and capacity;
• the quality of our customer services; and
• service introductions by our competitors or potential competitors.

Our customers impose substantial requirements relating to the recycling and waste management services we provide them.

Our arrangements with our customers generally contain provisions including (a) relatively short contract terms with extensions at the discretion of the customer, (b) requirements that we assume full responsibility for all operational aspects of the services, (c) requirements that we comply with all applicable laws, regulations, and other governmental requirements, (d) requirements that we hold subcontractors to the same standards to which we are subject, (e) prohibitions on price increases without customer consent, (f) designation of service locations, service frequency, and equipment, (g) specifications on procedures for rendering services, (h) notification to customer of any spills, releases, or discharges of materials, (i) requirements that we supply a self-performance audit, (j) requirements that we render monthly or quarterly reports to the customer, (k) requirements that we render monthly invoicing in approved time frames and formats, and (l) requirements that we maintain specified records. If we are unable to meet the requirements in a significant number of these contracts, such contracts could be cancelled, and the cancellation of such contracts could have a material adverse effect on our financial results and operations.

Our current indebtedness requires us to comply with certain restrictive loan covenants which may limit our ability to operate our business.

Under the terms of our PNC Loan Agreement and our Credit Agreement (each as defined in Note 7 to the consolidated financial statements), we are subject to certain financial covenants, including a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio and a senior net leverage ratio. In addition, the PNC Loan Agreement and the Credit Agreement each contains negative covenants limiting, among other things, additional indebtedness, transactions with affiliates, additional liens, sales of assets, dividends, investments and advances, prepayments of debt, mergers and acquisitions, and other matter customarily restricted in such agreements. The PNC Loan Agreement and the Credit Agreement each also contains customary events of default, including payment defaults, breaches of representations and warranties, covenant defaults, events of bankruptcy and insolvency, change of control, and failure of any guaranty or security document supporting the PNC Loan Agreement or the Credit Agreement, as applicable, to be in full force and effect. Upon the occurrence of an event of default, the outstanding obligations under the PNC Loan Agreement and/or the Credit Agreement, as applicable, may be accelerated and become immediately due and payable. We can provide no assurance that, if we are unable to comply with these covenants in the future, we will be able to obtain the necessary waivers or amend our PNC Loan Agreement and/or our Credit Agreement to prevent a default.

A breach of any of these covenants or requirements could result in a default under our PNC Loan Agreement and/or our Credit Agreement. If we default under our PNC Loan Agreement and/or our Credit Agreement and we are unable to cure the default or obtain a waiver, we will not be able to access the credit available under our PNC Loan Agreement and/or our Credit Agreement, as applicable, and there can be no assurance that we would be able to obtain alternative financing. In addition, our level of indebtedness may limit our financial flexibility and could affect our operations. Even if new financing is available, it may not be on terms that are acceptable to us. No assurance can be given that our future operating results will be sufficient to achieve compliance with the covenants and requirements of our PNC Loan Agreement and our Credit Agreement.

Our variable rate indebtedness subjects us to interest rate risk, which could cause our debt service obligations to increase significantly.

All of the borrowings under the Company’s senior secured credit facilities bear interest at variable rates. As a result, an increase in interest rates, whether due to an increase in market interest rates or an increase in our own cost of borrowing, would increase the cost of servicing our debt even though the amount borrowed remained the same resulting in our net income and cash flows, including cash available for servicing our indebtedness, to decrease correspondingly. The impact of such an increase would be more significant than it would be for some other companies because of our substantial debt.

We may need additional capital in the future.

The development and expansion of our business may require additional funds. In the future, we may seek additional equity or debt financing to provide funds for our business and operations. Such financing may not be available or may not be available on satisfactory terms. In addition, the terms of our PNC Loan Agreement and the Credit Agreement could limit our ability to obtain additional debt financing. If financing is not available on satisfactory terms, we may be unable to expand our operations. While debt financing will enable us to expand our business more rapidly than we otherwise would be able to do, debt financing increases expenses and we must repay the debt regardless of our operating results. Equity financings could result in dilution to our existing stockholders.

Our inability to obtain adequate capital resources, whether in the form of equity or debt, to fund our business and growth strategies, may require us to delay, scale back, or eliminate some or all of our operations, which may adversely affect our financial results and operations.

We depend on key personnel who would be difficult to replace, and our business will likely be harmed if we lose their services or cannot hire additional qualified personnel.

Our success depends to a significant extent upon the continued services of our current management team and key personnel. The loss of one or more of our key executives or employees could have a material adverse effect on our business. We do not maintain “key person” insurance policies on the lives of any of our executives or any of our other employees. We employ all of our executives and key employees on an at-will basis, and their employment can be terminated by us or them at any time, for any reason, and without notice, subject, in certain cases, to severance payment rights. In order to retain valuable employees, in addition to salary and cash incentives, we regard our ability as a public company to grant stock-based compensation as an important component of our ability to attract and retain key personnel. The value to employees of stock-based compensation over time will be significantly affected by movements in our stock price that are beyond our control and may at any time be insufficient to counteract offers from other companies.

Our success also depends on our ability to attract, retain, and motivate additional skilled management personnel. We plan to continue to expand our work force to continue to enhance our business and operating results. We believe that there is significant competition for qualified personnel with the skills and knowledge that we require. Many of the other companies with which we compete for qualified personnel have substantially greater financial and other resources than we do. They also may provide more diverse opportunities and better chances for career advancement. Some of these characteristics may be more appealing to high-quality candidates than those which we have to offer. If we are not able to retain our current key personnel or attract the necessary qualified key personnel to accomplish our business objectives, we may experience constraints that will significantly impede the achievement of our business objectives and our ability to pursue our business strategy. New hires require significant training and, in most cases, take significant time before they achieve full productivity. New employees may not become as productive as we expect, and we may be unable to hire or retain sufficient numbers of qualified individuals. If our recruiting, training, and retention efforts are not successful or do not generate a corresponding increase in revenue, our business will be harmed.

Our operating results may experience significant fluctuations, which may make them difficult to predict.

In addition to the variability resulting from the short-term nature of our customers’ commitments, other factors contribute to periodic and seasonal quarterly fluctuations in our results of operations, which could be significant. These factors include the following:

• the cyclicality of the markets we serve;
• the timing and size of orders;
• the volume of business opportunities relative to our capacity;
• service introductions and market acceptance of new service offerings;
• timing of expenses in anticipation of future business;
• changes in the mix of the services we render;
• changes in cost and availability of labor and third-party vendors;
• changes in the value of commodities;
• changes in prices or market requirements for recyclable materials;
• timely delivery of services to customers;
• pricing and availability of competitive services;
• pressures on reducing selling prices;
• the success in serving new markets;
• introduction of new technologies into the markets we serve; and
• changes in economic conditions.

Potential strategic alliances may not achieve their objectives, and the failure to do so could impede our growth.

We anticipate that we will enter into strategic alliances. Among other matters, we explore strategic alliances designed to enhance our service offerings, enlarge our customer base, provide valuable knowhow, or take advantage of new methods or technologies. Any strategic alliances may not achieve their intended objectives, and parties to our strategic alliances may not perform as contemplated. The failure of these alliances may impede our ability to expand our existing markets or to enter new markets.

Any acquisitions that we undertake could be difficult to integrate, disrupt our business, dilute stockholder value, and harm our operating results.

We plan to review strategic opportunities to buy other businesses that would complement our current service offerings, expand the scope of our service offerings, expand the breadth of our markets and sales channels, enhance our technical capabilities, or otherwise offer growth opportunities. If we make any future acquisitions, we could issue securities that would dilute the percentage ownership of our stockholders, incur substantial debt, or assume contingent liabilities.

Our experience in acquiring other businesses is limited. Potential acquisitions also involve numerous risks, including the following:

• problems integrating the acquired operations, services, personnel, or technologies with our own;
• unanticipated costs associated with the acquisition;
• diversion of management’s attention from our core businesses;
• adverse effects on existing business relationships with suppliers and customers;
• risks associated with entering markets in which we have no or limited prior experience;
• potential loss of key employees and customers of purchased organizations;
• risk of impairment charges related to potential write-downs of acquired assets in acquisitions; and
• the impact on our internal controls of compliance with the regulatory requirements under Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

Our acquisition strategy entails reviewing and potentially reorganizing acquired business operations, corporate infrastructure, and systems, and financial controls. Unforeseen expenses, difficulties, and delays frequently encountered in connection with rapid expansion through acquisitions could inhibit our growth and negatively impact our profitability. We may be unable to identify suitable acquisition candidates or to complete the acquisitions of candidates that we identify. Increased competition for acquisition candidates may increase purchase prices for acquisitions to levels beyond our financial capability or to levels that would not result in the returns required by our acquisition criteria. In addition, we may encounter difficulties in integrating the operations of acquired businesses with our own operations or managing acquired businesses profitably without substantial costs, delays, or other operational or financial problems.

Our strategy to increase our growth through acquisitions may be unsuccessful and could adversely affect our business and results.

As part of our growth strategy, we intend to further acquire other businesses; however, there is no assurance that we will be able to identify appropriate acquisition targets, successfully acquire identified targets or successfully integrate the business of acquired companies to realize the full benefits of the combined businesses.

While we recently acquired Green Remedies and RWS in connection with our growth strategy to acquire other businesses, we can provide no assurance that we will identify appropriate acquisition targets, successfully complete any future acquisitions or successfully integrate the business of companies we do acquire. Even if we successfully acquire a business entity, there is no assurance that our combined business will become profitable. The process of completing the integration of acquired businesses could cause an interruption of, or loss of momentum in, the activities of our company and the loss of key personnel. The diversion of management’s attention and any delays or difficulties encountered in connection with the pursuit of business acquisitions and the integration of acquired businesses, and the incurrence of significant, acquisition related costs in connection with proposed and completed acquisitions, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

If the benefits of any completed or proposed acquisition of do not meet the expectations of investors, stockholders or financial analysts, the market price of our Common Stock may decline.

If the benefits of any completed acquisition (including Green Remedies and RWS) or proposed acquisition do not meet the expectations of investors or securities analysts, the market price of our Common Stock prior to such acquisition may decline. The market values of our Common Stock at the time of an acquisition may vary significantly from their prices on the date the acquisition target was identified.

The effects of global economic conditions may impact our business, operating results, or financial condition.

Global economic conditions and political events, domestic or international terrorist events and hostilities or complications due to natural, nuclear or other disasters and pandemics or other health crises (including the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic, which may reduce demand for our services because of reduced global or national economic activity), can cause disruptions and extreme volatility in global financial markets, increase rates of default and bankruptcy, and impact levels of consumer and commercial spending.

The spread of COVID-19 around the world presents significant risks to our company, not all of which we are able to fully evaluate or even to foresee at the current time. In the short-term, some of our customers have shut down their businesses, while other customers operating in the restaurant, grocery, automotive and certain specialty retail industries, which may be considered as essential businesses in different jurisdictions, or customers that are more capable of working remotely than other industries, have been allowed to operate.

The COVID-19 pandemic may affect our operations in the future. All of these factors may have far reaching impacts on our business, operations, and financial results and conditions, directly and indirectly, including without limitation impacts on the health of our company’s management and employees, marketing and sales operations, customer and consumer behaviors, and on the overall economy. The scope and nature of these impacts, most of which are beyond our company’s control, continue to evolve and the outcomes are uncertain. Management cannot predict the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our company’s sales or on economic conditions generally. The ultimate extent of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our company is highly uncertain and will depend on future developments, and such effects could exist for an extended period of time even after the pandemic.

The members of our board of directors and our executive officers have broad rights.

Our business is operated under the control of our board of directors and officers. Stockholders have no right to take part in the control of our affairs or the day-to-day management or operation of the business. Stockholders are permitted to vote only in a limited number of circumstances. While the members of the board of directors are accountable as fiduciaries and are obligated to exercise duties of due care, loyalty, and full disclosure in handling our affairs, the board of directors is entitled to certain limitations of liability and to indemnity by us. Such indemnity and limitation of liability may limit rights that our stockholders would otherwise have to seek redress against the board of directors. Our executive officers are entitled to similar indemnification and limitation of liability. Our stockholders who have questions concerning the duties of the board of directors to our stockholders should consult their own legal counsel.

Certain conflicts of interest exist within our organization.

Certain members of our board of directors, as holders of our capital stock, may have conflicts of interest with respect to our company and the stockholders and with respect to the exercise of their voting rights for the shares that they own.

The compensation we pay to our executive officers and employees will likely increase.

We believe that the compensation we have historically paid to our executive officers and certain of our employees is within the lower quartile of compensation paid by companies similar to us. We may increase the compensation payable to our executive officers and employees, which could include both base compensation and cash or equity bonuses and payouts under severance or change in control arrangements. An increase in compensation and bonuses payable to our executive officers and employees could decrease our net income or increase our net loss.

If we are unable to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in the future, the accuracy and timeliness of our financial reporting may be adversely affected.

Our reporting obligations as a public company place a significant strain on our management and our operational and financial resources and systems for the foreseeable future. If we fail to maintain the adequacy of our internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to produce reliable financial reports or help prevent fraud. Our failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could prevent us from filing our periodic reports on a timely basis, which could result in the loss of investor confidence in the reliability of our consolidated financial statements, harm our business, and negatively impact the trading price of our Common Stock.

Increased prices and inflation could negatively impact our financial results.

Though we believe that the rates of inflation in recent years have not had a significant impact on our operations, a continued increase in inflation, including inflationary pressure on labor and the goods and services we rely upon to deliver service to our customers, could result in increases to our operating costs, and we may be unable to pass these costs on to our customers. If inflation in these costs increases beyond our ability to control for them through measures such as implementing operating efficiencies, we may not be able to increase prices to sufficiently offset the effect of various cost increases without negatively impacting customer demand, thereby increasing our costs of doing business and reducing our margins. If such impacts are prolonged and substantial, they could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

We are currently operating in a period of economic uncertainty and capital markets disruption, which has been significantly impacted by geopolitical instability due to the ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected by any negative impact on the global economy and capital markets resulting from the conflict in Ukraine or any other geopolitical tensions.

U.S. and global markets are experiencing volatility and disruption following the escalation of geopolitical tensions and the start of the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine. On February 24, 2022, a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops was reported. Although the length and impact of the ongoing military conflict is highly unpredictable, the conflict in Ukraine could lead to market disruptions, including significant volatility in commodity prices, credit and capital markets, as well as supply chain interruptions. We are continuing to monitor the situation in Ukraine and globally and assessing its potential impact on our business.

Any of the abovementioned factors could affect our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results. The extent and duration of the military action, sanctions and resulting market disruptions are impossible to predict, but could be substantial. Any such disruptions may also magnify the impact of other risks described in this Form 10-K.

Risks Related to Ownership of Our Securities

Our stock price has been and will likely continue to be volatile, and the value of an investment in our Common Stock may decline.

The trading price of our Common Stock has been and is likely to continue to be volatile. In addition to the risk factors described in this section and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, factors that may cause the price of our Common Stock to fluctuate include the following:

• limited trading activity in our Common Stock;
• actual or anticipated fluctuations in our quarterly or annual financial results;
• the financial guidance we may provide to the public, any changes in such guidance, or our failure to meet such guidance;
• the failure of industry or securities analysts to maintain coverage of our company, changes in financial estimates by any industry or securities analysts that follow our company, or our failure to meet such estimates;
• various market factors or perceived market factors, including rumors, whether or not correct, involving us, our customers, our strategic partners, or our competitors;
• sales, or anticipated sales, of large blocks of our stock;
• short selling of our Common Stock by investors;
• additions or departures of key personnel;
• announcements of technological innovations by us or by our competitors;
• introductions of new services or new pricing policies by us or by our competitors;
• changing competitive factors;
• regulatory or political developments;
• fluctuating commodity prices, including oil;
• litigation and governmental or regulatory investigations;
• acquisitions or strategic alliances by us or by our competitors; and
• general economic, political, and financial market conditions or events.

Furthermore, the stock markets have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market prices of equity securities of many companies. These fluctuations often have been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. These and other factors may cause the market price and demand for our Common Stock to fluctuate substantially, which may limit or prevent investors from readily selling their shares of common stock and may otherwise negatively affect the price or liquidity of our Common Stock. In addition, in the past, when the market price of a stock has been volatile, holders of that stock have sometimes instituted securities class action litigation against the company that issued the stock. If any of our stockholders were to bring a lawsuit against us, we could incur substantial costs defending the lawsuit or paying for settlements or damages. Such a lawsuit could also divert the time and attention of our management from our business.

Future sales of our Common Stock in the public market by our existing stockholders, or the perception that such sales might occur, could depress the market price of our Common Stock.

The market price of our Common Stock could decline as a result of sales of a large number of shares of our Common Stock in the market, and even the perception that these sales could occur may depress the market price. As of December 31, 2022, we had 19,696,006 shares of our Common Stock outstanding. Many of these shares may be sold in the public market, subject to prior registration or qualification for an exemption from registration, including, in the case of shares held by affiliates, compliance with the volume restrictions of Rule 144. Shares held by affiliates of our company, which generally include our directors, officers, and certain principal stockholders, are subject to the resale limitations of Rule 144 as described below. We also may register for resale shares that are deemed to be “restricted securities” or shares held by affiliates of our company.

In general, under Rule 144 as currently in effect, any person or persons whose shares are aggregated for purposes of Rule 144, who is deemed an affiliate of our company and beneficially owns restricted securities with respect to which at least six months has elapsed since the later of the date the shares were acquired from us, or from an affiliate of ours, is entitled to sell within any three-month period a number of shares that does not exceed the greater of 1% of the then outstanding shares of our Common Stock and the average weekly trading volume in Common Stock during the four calendar weeks preceding such sale. Sales by affiliates under Rule 144 also are subject to certain manner-of-sale provisions and notice requirements and to the availability of current public information about us. Rule 701, as currently in effect, permits our employees, officers, directors, and consultants who purchase shares pursuant to a written compensatory plan or contract to resell these shares in reliance upon Rule 144, but without compliance with specific restrictions.

Rule 701 provides that affiliates may sell their Rule 701 shares under Rule 144 without complying with the holding period requirement and that non-affiliates may sell their shares in reliance on Rule 144 without complying with the holding period, public information, volume limitation, or notice provisions of Rule 144. A person who is not an affiliate, who has not been an affiliate within three months prior to sale, and who beneficially owns restricted securities with respect to which at least one year has elapsed since the later of the date the shares were acquired from us, or from an affiliate of ours, is entitled to sell such shares under Rule 144 without regard to any of the volume limitations or other requirements described above. Sales of substantial amounts of our Common Stock in the public market could adversely affect the market price for our Common Stock.

As of December 31, 2022, we had 4,240,803 shares of Common Stock issuable upon the exercise of outstanding stock options, DSUs, and warrants under our incentive compensation plan and other option and warrant agreements. Upon the exercise of stock options and warrants, such shares generally will be eligible for sale in the public market, except that affiliates will continue to be subject to volume limitations and other requirements of Rule 144. The issuance or sale of such shares could depress the market price of our Common Stock.

Future sales and issuances of our Common Stock or rights to purchase Common Stock by us, including pursuant to our equity incentive plan and employee stock purchase plan, could result in additional dilution of the percentage ownership of our stockholders and could cause our stock price to fall.

We intend to issue additional securities pursuant to our equity incentive plan and our employee stock purchase plan may issue equity or convertible securities in the future. To the extent we do so, our stockholders may experience substantial dilution. We may sell Common Stock, convertible securities, or other equity securities in one or more transactions at prices and in a manner we determine from time to time. If we sell Common Stock, convertible securities, or other equity securities in more than one transaction, investors may be materially diluted by subsequent sales and new investors could gain rights superior to our existing stockholders.

Our directors, executive officers, and principal stockholders have substantial control over us and will be able to exert significant control over matters subject to stockholder approval.

Our directors, executive officers, and holders of more than 5% of our Common Stock, together with their affiliates, beneficially own or control a majority of our outstanding Common Stock. If these stockholders act together, including with respect to the election of specified directors as contemplated by a voting agreement among certain of them, they will be able to exercise significant influence over all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors and the approval of significant corporate transactions, such as a merger or other sale of our company or our assets. This concentration of ownership could limit your ability to influence corporate matters and may have the effect of delaying or preventing a third party from acquiring control over us.

Anti-takeover provisions could impair a takeover attempt of our company even if the transaction would be beneficial to our stockholders and could make it difficult for you to change our management.

Certain provisions of our articles of incorporation and bylaws and applicable provisions of Nevada law may have the effect of rendering more difficult, delaying, or preventing an acquisition of our company, even when this would be in the best interest of our stockholders.

Our articles of incorporation and bylaws include provisions that provide for the following:

• authorize our board of directors to issue, without further action by the stockholders, up to 10,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock;
• specify that special meetings of our stockholders can be called only by our board of directors or the chairman of our board of directors;
• establish an advance notice procedure for stockholder proposals to be brought before an annual meeting, including proposed nominations of persons for election to our board of directors;
• establish that our board of directors is divided into three classes, Class I, Class II, and Class III, with each class serving three-year staggered terms;
• prohibit cumulative voting in the election of directors; and
• provide that vacancies on our board of directors may be filled only by a majority of directors then in office, even though less than a quorum.

In addition, we are subject to Section 78.438 of the Nevada General Corporation Law, which generally prohibits a Nevada corporation from engaging in any of a broad range of business combinations with an interested stockholder for a period of two years following the date on which the stockholder became an interested stockholder, unless such transactions are approved by our board of directors. This provision could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of our company, whether or not it is desired by or beneficial to our stockholders. In addition, other provisions of Nevada law may also discourage, delay, or prevent someone from acquiring us or merging with us.

These provisions, alone or together, could delay or prevent hostile takeovers and changes in control or changes in our management. Any provision of our articles of incorporation or bylaws or Nevada law that has the effect of delaying or deterring a change in control could limit the opportunity for our stockholders to receive a premium for their shares of our Common Stock and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for our Common Stock.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish or cease publishing research or reports about us, our business, or our market, or if they adversely change their recommendations regarding our stock, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our Common Stock will be influenced by the research and reports that securities or industry analysts may publish about us, our business, our market, or our competitors. If adequate research coverage is not established or maintained on our company or if any of the analysts who may cover us downgrade our stock or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business or provide relatively more favorable recommendations about our competitors, our stock price would likely decline. If any analyst who may cover us were to cease coverage of our company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.

Since we do not expect to pay any cash dividends for the foreseeable future, our stockholders may be forced to sell their stock in order to obtain a return on their investment.

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our capital stock, and we do not anticipate declaring or paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. In addition, the terms of our PNC Loan Agreement and the Credit Agreement restrict our ability to declare cash dividends. We plan to retain any future earnings to finance our operations and growth plans. Our credit agreement also prohibits us from paying dividends on our Common Stock. Accordingly, investors must rely on sales of shares of their Common Stock after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any return on their investment.

Our business could be negatively affected as a result of actions of activist stockholders, and such activism could impact the trading value of our securities.

Stockholders may, from time to time, engage in proxy solicitations or advance stockholder proposals, or otherwise attempt to effect changes and assert influence on our board of directors and management. Activist campaigns that contest or conflict with our strategic direction or seek changes in the composition of our board of directors could have an adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition. A proxy contest would require us to incur significant legal and advisory fees, proxy solicitation expenses and administrative and associated costs and require significant time and attention by our board of directors and management, diverting their attention from the pursuit of our business strategy. Any perceived uncertainties as to our future direction and control, our ability to execute on our strategy, or changes to the composition of our board of directors or senior management team arising from a proxy contest could lead to the perception of a change in the direction of our business or instability which may result in the loss of potential business opportunities, make it more difficult to pursue our strategic initiatives, or limit our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel and business partners, any of which could adversely affect our business and operating results. If individuals are ultimately elected to our board of directors with a specific agenda, it may adversely affect our ability to effectively implement our business strategy and create additional value for our stockholders. We may choose to initiate, or may become subject to, litigation as a result of the proxy contest or matters arising from the proxy contest, which would serve as a further distraction to our board of directors and management and would require us to incur significant additional costs. In addition, actions such as those described above could cause significant fluctuations in our stock price based upon temporary or speculative market perceptions or other factors that do not necessarily reflect the underlying fundamentals and prospects of our business.

Our executive offices are located in The Colony, Texas, where we lease approximately 16,200 square feet under a lease that expires in December 2027. We also have administrative offices in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and South Carolina. We believe that our current facilities are adequate to meet our needs for the near future and that suitable additional or alternative space will be available on commercially reasonable terms to accommodate our foreseeable future operations.

We may be subject to legal proceedings in the ordinary course of business. As of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we are not aware of any legal proceedings to which we are a party that we believe could have a material adverse effect on us.

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read together with our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This discussion contains forward-looking statements, based upon our current expectations and related to future events and our future financial performance, that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including those set forth under “Risk Factors,” “Forward-Looking Statements,” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Our Business

We are a national provider of waste and recycling services to customers from across multiple industry sectors that are typically larger, multi-location businesses. We create customer-specific programs and perform the related services for the collection, processing, recycling, disposal, and tracking of waste streams and recyclables. Our programs and services enable our customers to address their business, sustainability and ESG goals and responsibilities.

We believe our services are comprehensive, innovative, and cost effective. Our services are designed to enable our business customers to capture the commodity value of their waste streams and recyclables, better manage their disposal and total operating costs, enhance their management of environmental risks, enhance their legal and regulatory compliance, and achieve their business and environmental goals while maximizing the efficiency of their assets. Our services currently focus on the waste streams and recyclables from big box grocers and other specialty retailers; automotive after-market operations such as automotive maintenance, quick lube, dealerships, and collision repair; transportation, logistics, and fleet operators; manufacturing and industrial facilities; multi-family and commercial properties; restaurant chains and food operations; malls and shopping centers; and construction and demolition projects. We currently concentrate on programs for recycling motor oil and automotive lubricants, oil filters, scrap tires, oily water, goods destruction, food waste, meat renderings, cooking oil and grease trap waste, plastics, cardboard, pallet, metal, glass, mixed paper, construction debris, as well as a large variety of regulated and non-regulated solid, liquid, and gas wastes. In addition, we offer products such as antifreeze and windshield washer fluid, dumpster and compacting equipment, and other minor ancillary services.

We also provide information and data that tracks and reports the detailed transactional and environmental results of our services and provides actionable data to improve business operations. The data we generate enables our customers to address their environmental goals and responsibilities and to report to internal and external parties such as employees, investors, business partners, and governmental agencies.

Our results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2022 reflect the impact of the RWS acquisition, while the prior year only includes RWS’s results from November 30, 2021 to December 31, 2021. See Note 3 to our consolidated financial statements for a discussion of this transaction.

Years Ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 Operating Results

Our consolidated financial statements include the operating activities of our company and our subsidiaries for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021.

The following table summarizes our operating results for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021:

Year Ended December 31, 2022 compared with Year Ended December 31, 2021

Global Economic Trends

The global economy, including credit and financial markets, has experienced extreme volatility and disruptions, including severely diminished liquidity and credit availability, declines in consumer confidence, declines in economic growth, increases in unemployment rates, increases in inflation rates and uncertainty about economic stability. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in widespread unemployment, economic slowdown and extreme volatility in the capital markets. Similarly, the current conflict between Ukraine and Russia has created extreme volatility in the global capital markets and is expected to have further global economic consequences, including disruptions of the global supply chain and energy markets. Any such volatility and disruptions may have adverse consequences on us or the third parties on whom we rely. If the equity and credit markets deteriorate, including as a result of political unrest or war, it may make any necessary debt or equity financing more difficult to obtain in a timely manner or on favorable terms, more costly or more dilutive. Inflation can adversely affect us by increasing our costs, including salary costs. Any significant increases in inflation and related increases in interest rates could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Revenue

For the year ended December 31, 2022, revenue was $284.0 million, an increase of $128.3 million, or 82.4%, compared with revenue of $155.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2021.

The increase was primarily due to increased demand including the impact of heightened customer production levels, increased services from certain new and continuing customers, increased value of recycled materials compared to a year ago, and revenue of $98.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, from the acquired customer base related to the business acquisitions. See Note 3 to our consolidated financial statements for a discussion of certain acquisitions during 2022 and 2021.

Cost of Revenue/Gross Profit

Cost of revenue increased to $235.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, from $127.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase was primarily due to the same reasons impacting the increase in revenue including $84.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, from the acquired customer base related to the business acquisitions.

Gross profit increased $20.2 million to $48.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, from $28.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. Our gross profit margin was 17.2% for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared with 18.4% for the year ended December 31, 2021 . The changes in gross profit and gross profit margin for the year ended December 31, 2022, were primarily due to the net effect of the impact of increased services from certain new and continuing customers, the business operations acquired, change in the mix of services and relative gross profit margins from new and acquired customer base, increased value for certain recycled materials compared to a year ago, and reduced operations at certain other customers.

Revenue, gross profit, and gross profit margins are affected period to period by the volumes of waste and recycling materials generated by our customers, the frequency and type of services provided, the price and mix of the services provided, commodity price changes for recycled materials, the cost and mix of subcontracted services provided in any one reporting period, and the timing of acquisitions and integrations. Volumes of waste and recycling materials generated by our customers are impacted period to period based on several factors including their production or sales levels, demand of their product or services in the market, supply chain reliability, and labor force stability, among other business factors.

Operating Expenses

For the year ended December 31, 2022, operating expenses increased to $47.5 million from $24.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase in operating expenses was primarily related to the business operations acquired and totaled $18.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2022.

Selling, general, and administrative expenses were $37.8 million and $21.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, a year-over-year increase of $16.1 million. The increase primarily relates to increases in labor related expenses of $9.3 million, acquisition/integration related expenses of $1.2 million inclusive of professional fees of $0.9 million, bad debt expense of $1.2 million which was mostly related to the increase in revenue from the previous year, travel/marketing expenses of $0.6 million and other administrative expenses of $3.9 million.

Operating expenses also included depreciation and amortization of $9.6 million and $2.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The increase in depreciation and amortization was primarily related to the business operations acquired and totaled $7.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2022.

Interest Expense

For the year ended December 31, 2022, interest expense increased to $7.3 million from $2.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, as a result of additional borrowing related primarily to the acquisitions in 2022 and 2021 and the increases in base interest rates. We are amortizing debt issuance costs of $3.3 million and OID of $2.2 million to interest expense over the life of the related debt arrangements as discussed in Note 7 to our consolidated financial statements.

Income Taxes

We recorded a provision for income taxes of $172,604 and $321,169 for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The provision for income taxes for both periods is primarily attributable to state tax obligations based on current estimated state tax apportionments for states with no net operating loss carryforwards.

We recorded a full valuation allowance against all of our deferred tax assets (“DTAs”) as of both December 31, 2022 and 2021. We intend on maintaining a full valuation allowance on our DTAs until there is sufficient evidence to support the reversal of all or some portion of these allowances. However, given our current earnings and anticipated future earnings, we believe that there is a reasonable possibility that within the next 12 to 24 months, sufficient positive evidence may become available to allow us to reach a conclusion that a significant portion of the valuation allowance will no longer be needed. Release of the valuation allowance would result in the recognition of certain DTAs and a decrease to income tax expense for the period the release is recorded. However, the exact timing and amount of the valuation allowance release are subject to change based on the level of profitability that we are able to actually achieve.

Net Income (Loss)

Net loss for the year ended December 31, 2022, was $(6.0) million compared with net income of $1.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. The discussions above explain the primary changes related to the change in net results.

Our operating results, including revenue, operating expenses, and operating margins, vary from period to period depending on commodity prices of recycled materials, the volumes and mix of services provided, as well as customer mix during the reporting period, and the timing of acquisitions and integrations.

Income (Loss) per Share

Net loss per basic and diluted share attributable to common stockholders was $(0.31) for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared with net income per basic and diluted share attributable to common stockholders of $0.09 and $0.08, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2021. The basic and diluted weighted average number of shares of Common Stock outstanding was approximately 19.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to basic and diluted weighted average number of shares of Common Stock outstanding of approximately 18.9 million and 20.7 million, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2021.

Adjusted EBITDA

For the year ended December 31, 2022, Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure, increased 51.2% to $16.4 million from $10.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2021.

We use the non-GAAP measurement of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, stock-related compensation charges, acquisition-related costs, and other adjustments, or “Adjusted EBITDA,” to evaluate our performance. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure that is also frequently used by analysts, investors and other interested parties to evaluate the market value of companies considered to be in similar industries. We suggest that Adjusted EBITDA be viewed in conjunction with our reported financial results or other financial information prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”). For the year ended December 31, 2022, other adjustments included earn-out adjustments, certain recruiting, severance and project costs, and certain administrative fees related to borrowings. For the year ended December 31, 2021, other adjustments included an earn-out adjustment, certain severance and recruiting costs and bank fees.

The following table reflects the reconciliation of net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021:

Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Net Income per Diluted Share

Adjusted net income, a non-GAAP financial measure, for the year ended December 31, 2022, was $5.8 million compared with $5.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. We present adjusted net income and adjusted net income per diluted share, both non-GAAP financial measures, supplementally because they are widely used by investors as a valuation measure in the solid waste industry. Management uses adjusted net income and adjusted net income per diluted share as one of the principal measures to evaluate and monitor the ongoing financial performance of our operations. We provide adjusted net income to exclude the effects of items management believes impact the comparability of operating results between periods. Adjusted net income has limitations due to the fact that it excludes items that have an impact on our financial condition and results of operations. Adjusted net income and adjusted net income per diluted share are not a substitute for, and should be used in conjunction with, GAAP financial measures. Other companies may calculate these non-GAAP financial measures differently. Our adjusted net income and adjusted net income per diluted share for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, are calculated as follows:

22

Liquidity and Capital Resources

As of December 31, 2022, we had working capital of $19.7 million, including $9.6 million of cash and cash equivalents, compared with working capital of $12.6 million, including cash and cash equivalents of $8.4 million, as of December 31, 2021.

We derive our primary sources of funds for conducting our business activities from operating revenues; borrowings under our credit facilities; and the placement of our equity securities to investors. We require working capital primarily to carry accounts receivable, service debt, purchase capital assets, fund operating expenses, address unanticipated competitive threats or technical problems, withstand adverse economic conditions, fund potential acquisition transactions, and pursue goals and strategies.

We believe our existing cash and cash equivalents of $9.6 million, our borrowing capacity under our $25.0 million ABL Facility, and cash expected to be generated from operations will be sufficient to fund our operations for the next 12 months and thereafter for the foreseeable future.

As discussed in Note 7 to our consolidated financial statements, we entered into the PNC Loan Agreement which provides for an asset-based revolving credit facility of up to $25.0 million and an equipment loan facility in the maximum principal amount of $2.0 million. Our known current- and long-term uses of cash include, among other possible demands, capital expenditures, lease payments and repayments to service debt and other long-term obligations. We have no agreements, commitments, or understandings with respect to any such placements of our securities and any such placements could be dilutive to our stockholders.

On October 19, 2020, we and certain of our domestic subsidiaries entered into the Monroe Credit Agreement. Among other things, the Credit Agreement, as amended, provides for the following:

• A senior secured term loan facility in the principal amount of $61.2 million as of December 31, 2022. The senior secured term loan accrues interest at the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) or the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) for LIBOR/SOFR Loans plus the Applicable Margin; provided, that if the provision of LIBOR/SOFR Loans becomes unlawful or unavailable, then interest will be payable at a rate per annum equal to the Base Rate from time to time in effect plus the Applicable Margin for Base Rate Loans. The maturity date of the term loan facility is October 19, 2025 (the “Maturity Date”). The senior secured term loan will amortize in aggregate annual amounts equal to 1.00% of the original principal amount of the senior secured term loan facility with the balance payable on the Maturity Date. Proceeds of the senior secured term loan are permitted to be used for Permitted Acquisitions (as defined in the Credit Agreement).
• A delayed draw term loan facility in the maximum principal amount of $12.5 million. Loans under the delayed draw term loan facility may be requested at any time until March 31, 2023. Pricing and maturity for the outstanding principal amount of the delayed draw term loan shall be the same as for the senior secured term loan. Proceeds of the delayed draw term loan are to be used for Permitted Acquisitions.
• An accordion term loan facility in the maximum principal amount of $5.3 million. Loans under the accordion loan facility may be requested at any time until the Maturity Date. Each accordion term loan shall be on the same terms as those applicable to the senior secured term loan. Proceeds of accordion term loans are permitted to be used for Permitted Acquisitions.

Certain of the Company’s domestic subsidiaries are the borrowers under the Credit Agreement. The Company is the guarantor under the Credit Agreement. As security for the obligations of the borrowers under the Credit Agreement, (i) the borrowers under the Credit Agreement have granted a first priority lien on substantially all of their tangible and intangible personal property, including a pledge of the capital stock and membership interests, as applicable, of certain of the Company’s direct and indirect subsidiaries, and (ii) the guarantors under the Credit Agreement have granted a first priority lien on the capital stock and membership interests, as applicable, of the Company’s direct and indirect domestic subsidiaries.

The Credit Agreement contains certain financial covenants, including a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio and a senior net leverage ratio. In addition, the Credit Agreement contains negative covenants limiting, among other things, additional indebtedness, transactions with affiliates, additional liens, sales of assets, dividends, investments and advances, prepayments of debt, mergers and acquisitions, and other matter customarily restricted in such agreements. The Credit Agreement also contains customary events of default, including payment defaults, breaches of representations and warranties, covenant defaults, events of bankruptcy and insolvency, change of control, and failure of any guaranty or security document supporting the Credit Agreement to be in full force and effect. Upon the occurrence of an event of default, the outstanding obligations under the Credit Agreement may be accelerated and become immediately due and payable. The foregoing is a summary only and does not purport to be a complete description of all the terms, provisions, covenants and agreements contained in the Credit Agreement and is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Credit Agreement.

Cash Flows

The following discussion relates to the major components of our cash flows.

Cash Flows from Operating Activities

Net cash used in operating activities was $(2.3) million for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared with net cash provided by operating activities of $2.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2021.

Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2022, related primarily to the net effect of the following:

• net loss of $(6.0) million;
• non-cash items of $14.3 million, which related primarily to depreciation, amortization of intangible assets and debt issuance costs, provision for doubtful accounts, and stock-based compensation; and
• cash used in the net change in operating assets and liabilities of $10.6 million, primarily associated with relative changes in accounts receivable, accounts payable, and accrued liabilities.

Net cash provided by operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2021, related primarily to the net effect of the following:

• net income of $1.7 million;
• non-cash items of $5.2 million, which related primarily to depreciation, amortization of intangible assets and debt issuance costs, provision for doubtful accounts, and stock-based compensation; and
• cash used in the net change in operating assets and liabilities of $4.4 million, primarily associated with relative changes in accounts receivable, accounts payable, and accrued liabilities.

Our business, including revenue, operating expenses, and operating margins, may vary depending on the blend of services we provide to our customers, the terms of customer contracts, commodity contracts, and our business volume levels. Fluctuations in net accounts receivable are generally attributable to a variety of factors including, but not limited to, the timing of cash receipts from customers, and the inception, increase, modification, or termination of customer relationships. Our operating activities may require additional cash in the future from our debt facilities and/or equity financings depending on the level of our operations.

Cash Flows from Investing Activities

Cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2022, was $4.3 million and primarily related to the $3.1 million net purchase of the assets of a Northeast-based independent environmental services company on February 10, 2022, which was partially offset by a $500,000 purchase price adjustment of a prior year acquisition. Cash used for the year ended December 31, 2021, was $16.9 million and related mainly to $16.3 million paid for acquisitions. Other investing activities are primarily from purchases of property and equipment and intangible assets such as software development.

Cash Flows from Financing Activities

Net cash provided by financing activities was $7.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, primarily from borrowings of $3.5 million from the Credit Agreement with Monroe Capital used to finance the February 2022 acquisition of an independent environmental services company, net borrowings of $5.0 million on our ABL Facility, and $933,000 proceeds from stock option exercises and shares issued under our 2014 Employee Stock Purchase Plan, partially offset by $1.4 million repayments of notes payable. Net cash provided by financing activities was $15.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 , primarily related to borrowings of $12.5 million from the Credit Agreement with Monroe Capital and net borrowings of $2.9 million on our ABL Facility. See Note 7 to our consolidated financial statements for a discussion of the ABL Facility and other notes payable.

Inflation

Although the overall economy has experienced some inflationary pressures, we do not believe that inflation had a material impact on us during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021. We believe that current inflationary increases in costs, such as fuel, labor, and certain capital items, can be addressed by our flexible pricing structures and cost recovery fees allowing us to recover certain of the cost of inflation from our customer base. Consistent with industry practice, many of our contracts allow us to pass through certain costs to our customers or adjust pricing. Although we believe that we should be able to offset many cost increases that result from inflation in the ordinary course of business, we may be required to absorb at least part of these costs increases due to competitive pressures or delays in timing of rate increases. Although we have not been materially affected by inflation in the past, we can provide no assurance that we will not be affected in the future by higher rates of inflation and increases in interest rates.

Critical Accounting Estimates and Policies

Our discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based on our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of our consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates, including those related to areas that require a significant level of judgment or are otherwise subject to an inherent degree of uncertainty. These areas include carrying amounts of accounts receivable, goodwill and other intangible assets, deferred taxes and the fair value of assets and liabilities acquired in business acquisitions and stock-based compensation expense. We base our estimates on historical experience, our observance of trends in particular areas, and information or valuations and various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances and which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that may not be readily apparent from other sources. Actual amounts could differ significantly from amounts previously estimated.

We believe that of our significant accounting policies, the following may involve a higher degree of judgment and complexity.

Collectability of Accounts Receivable

Our accounts receivable consists primarily of amounts due from customers for the performance of services, and we record the amount net of an allowance for doubtful accounts. To record our accounts receivable at their net realizable value, we assess their collectability, which requires a considerable amount of judgment. We perform a detailed analysis of the aging of our receivables, the credit worthiness of our customers, our historical bad debts, and other adjustments. If economic, industry, or customer specific business trends worsen, we increase the allowance for uncollectible accounts by recording additional expense in the period in which we become aware of the new conditions.

Impairment of Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

In accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 350, Intangibles – Goodwill and Other, we perform goodwill impairment testing at least annually during the third quarter, unless indicators of impairment exist in interim periods. Our test of goodwill impairment included assessing qualitative factors and the use of judgment in evaluating economic conditions, industry and market conditions, cost factors, and entity-specific events such as market capitalization as compared to book value. The impairment test for goodwill compares the estimated fair value of a reporting unit with goodwill to its carrying value. If the carrying amount of a reporting unit’s goodwill exceeds the fair value of its goodwill, we recognize an impairment loss equal to the excess, not to exceed the total amount of recorded goodwill.

In addition to the required goodwill impairment analysis, we also review the recoverability of our net intangible assets with finite lives when an indicator of impairment exists. Based on our analysis of estimated undiscounted future cash flows expected to result from the use of these net intangibles with finite lives, we determine if we will recover their carrying values as of the test date. If not recoverable, we record an impairment charge. We performed our most recent goodwill impairment analysis in the third quarter of 2022 with no impairment recorded.

Stock Options

We estimate the fair value of stock options using the Black-Scholes-Merton valuation model. Significant assumptions used in the calculation were determined as follows:

• We determine the expected term under the simplified method using an average of the contractual term and vesting period of the award as appropriate statistical data required to properly estimate the expected term was not available;
• We measure the expected volatility using the historical daily changes in the market price of our Common Stock; and
• We approximate the risk-free interest rate using the implied yield on zero-coupon U.S. Treasury bonds with a remaining maturity equal to the expected term of the awards.

Income Taxes

We use the asset and liability method to account for income taxes. We use significant judgment in determining the provision for income taxes, deferred tax assets and liabilities, and any valuation allowance recorded against net deferred tax assets. We then assess the likelihood that deferred tax assets will be recovered from future taxable income, and to the extent that recovery is not likely or there is insufficient operating history, we establish a valuation allowance. To the extent we establish or increase a valuation allowance in a period, we include an adjustment within the tax provision of our consolidated statements of operations. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, we had established a full valuation allowance for all deferred tax assets.

As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, we did not recognize any assets or liabilities relative to uncertain tax positions, nor do we anticipate any significant unrecognized tax benefits will be recorded during the next 12 months. We recognize any interest or penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits in income tax expense. Since there are no unrecognized tax benefits as a result of tax positions taken, there are no accrued penalties or interest.

Business Combinations

We account for acquisitions in accordance with ASC Topic 805, Business Combinations. In purchase accounting, identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed are recognized at their estimated fair values at the acquisition date, and any remaining purchase price is recorded as goodwill. In determining the fair values of assets acquired and liabilities assumed, we make significant estimates and assumptions, particularly with respect to long-lived tangible and intangible assets. Critical estimates used in valuing tangible and intangible assets include, but are not limited to, future expected cash flows, discount rates, market prices and asset lives.

Our consolidated financial statements include the results of operations from the date of the acquisition.

We expense all acquisition-related costs as incurred in selling, general and administrative expenses in the consolidated statements of operations.

Financial Instruments

Our financial instruments consist of cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable, accrued liabilities, deferred revenue, and notes payable. We do not believe that we are exposed to significant interest, currency, or credit risks arising from these financial instruments. The fair values of these financial instruments approximate their carrying values using Level 3 inputs, based on their short maturities or, for long-term portions of notes payable, based on borrowing rates currently available to us for loans with similar terms and maturities.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

See Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We have no off-balance sheet debt or similar obligations. We have no transactions or obligations with related parties that are not disclosed, consolidated into, or reflected in our reported results of operations or financial position. We do not guarantee any third-party debt.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures, as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act, as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Based on such evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that, as of such date, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective.

Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of our financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP.

Due to its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate due to changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, we evaluated the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting using the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013). Based on such evaluation, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2022.

This Annual Report on Form 10-K does not include an attestation report of our registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting. Our management’s report was not subject to attestation by our independent registered public accounting firm pursuant to rules of the SEC that permit us to provide only management’s report in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting identified by management’s evaluation pursuant to Rules 13a-15(d) or 15d-15(d) of the Exchange Act during the most recent fiscal quarter that materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Limitations on Effectiveness of Controls and Procedures

Our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, does not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures or our internal controls over financial reporting will prevent all error and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Further, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues, misstatements, errors, and instances of fraud, if any, within our company have been or will be prevented or detected. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty and that breakdowns can occur because of simple error or mistake. Controls also can be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people, or by management override of the controls. The design of any system of controls is based in part on certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions. Projections of any evaluation of controls effectiveness to future periods are subject to risks. Over time, internal controls may become inadequate as a result of changes in conditions, or through the deterioration of the degree of compliance with policies or procedures.