In Q1, it sure did as we achieved record operating EBITDA of $1.16 billion and robust cash from operations of $1.12 billion.
Combine this with the broader economic trends and all indicators show that our full-year revenue, adjusted operating EBITDA and free cash flow are on track to meet or exceed the upper end of the guidance ranges we provided in February.
And based on the success of the integration so far, we are increasing our synergy expectations to $150 million of total annual run rate synergies, $130 million coming from operating costs and SG&A savings and $20 million coming from capital savings.
For 2021, we now expect synergies of between $75 million and $85 million, all coming from cost savings.
With approximately $15 million of annualized synergies captured in 2020, we expect to exit 2021 on an annual run rate synergy level of around $100 million.
The remaining $50 million is expected to be captured in 2022 and 2023 from a combination of operating costs, SG&A and capital expenditures.
Organic revenue grew 2.1% as disciplined pricing and improved recycling results overcame modest volume declines.
Pricing performance for the quarter was very solid with both core price of 3.4% and collection and disposal yield of 2.8%, outpacing our expectations.
Notably, our commercial yield rebounded sequentially from 3.1% -- to 3.1% from 1.9% in the fourth quarter.
As economic reopening progressed during the first quarter, collection and disposal volumes improved again sequentially to a decline of 2.3% from 2.7% in the fourth quarter.
In the first quarter, net new business turned positive, churn improved meaningfully to 8.2% and service increases expanded.
While volumes have recovered meaningfully from the second quarter of 2020 collection and disposal decline of 10.9%, as Jim pointed out, WM is positioned to benefit from further improvements in North American economies.
For example, at the end of the first quarter, we have recovered about 72% of the commercial yards lost due to COVID, providing room for considerable improvement in commercial volumes as we progress through the year.
Residential yield doubled year over year to 4.2% as we made strides to improve the profitability in this line of business.
This is the highest residential yield we have achieved since 2008 and it showcases our success in demonstrating the value of our service and pricing it appropriately.
The increased yield drove operating EBITDA margins in the residential line of business to the highest level in the past 12 months despite still elevated residential container rates.
Landfill core price was 3.2%, a strong result when you consider the impact of lower volumes related both to the pandemic and severe winter weather.
While our other top recycling quarters had an average commodity price of $127 per ton, we achieved our strong first-quarter results with a price of $79 per ton.
First-quarter operating expenses as a percentage of revenue improved 130 basis points to 61.1%, demonstrating that we are maintaining our cost discipline as volumes recover.
Revenue growth is expected to be 12.5% to 13%, with combined internal revenue growth from yield and volume in the collection and disposal business of four and a half percent or greater.
For adjusted operating EBITDA, we now expect to generate between $4.875 billion and $4.975 billion, a $100 million increase at the midpoint from our prior guidance.
The improved outlook for adjusted operating EBITDA translates directly into incremental free cash flow, and we now expect that we will generate between $2.325 billion and $2.425 billion of free cash flow for the year.
Net cash provided by operating activities grew $355 million.
In the first quarter, capital spending was $270 million, a $189 million decrease from the first quarter of 2020.
For the full year, we expect capital spending to be at the high end of our $1.78 billion to $1.88 billion guidance range as we invest in our business to support growth, reduce our cost to serve and extend our environmental sustainability efforts.
Putting it all together, our business generated free cash flow of $865 million in the first quarter.
In the first quarter, we used our free cash flow to pay $247 million in dividends and allocated $250 million to share repurchases.
SG&A was 10.7% of revenue in the first quarter.
Our deliberate increased level of investment in technology as well as higher incentive compensation accruals are the driver of SG&A as a percentage of revenue being above our long-term target of less than 10% of revenue, but we are committed to ensuring we return to that optimized cost structure in the near term.
Our first-quarter leverage ratio of 3.04 times has improved from the fourth quarter due to our strong operating EBITDA growth.
Our strong first-quarter results and increased expectations for current year operating EBITDA and free cash flow, position us to purchase at least $1 billion of our shares in 2021, and at the same time, achieve our target leverage of 2.75 times by the end of the year.

Summary:
Combine this with the broader economic trends and all indicators show that our full-year revenue, adjusted operating EBITDA and free cash flow are on track to meet or exceed the upper end of the guidance ranges we provided in February.
Revenue growth is expected to be 12.5% to 13%, with combined internal revenue growth from yield and volume in the collection and disposal business of four and a half percent or greater.
For adjusted operating EBITDA, we now expect to generate between $4.875 billion and $4.975 billion, a $100 million increase at the midpoint from our prior guidance.