Waste Management report shows two-year investment of over $200 million in recycling infrastructure
WM also processed a record 15.5 million tons of material for beneficial use in 2019
Waste Management has released its 2020 sustainability report, highlighting 2018/2019 progress toward the company's 2025 and 2038 sustainability goals, key performance indicators, recycling advancements and recent awards.
With a commitment to consistent public disclosure, WM is shifting to an annual reporting cadence, publishing content in two formats, to further reporting transparency. Complementing the report, a new Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Resource Hub provides easy access to data related to performance, policies and initiatives.
2020 Sustainability Report highlights include:
Recycling
Committed to investing in recycling infrastructure, WM keeps long-term sustainability in mind. WM invested a total of more than $200 million in recycling infrastructure across 2018 and 2019 and processed a record 15.5 million tons of material for beneficial use in 2019.
Solving waste together
WM helps customers manage waste in environmentally responsible and valuable ways. Solutions come in many forms from helping a customer recycle car seats, to increasing use of post-consumer resin in products. In collaboration with Cascade Cart Solutions, WM is also testing the industry's first EcoCarts.
Providing long-term value
When landfills reach capacity, they don't reach the end of their useful life. WM converts some closed landfill land into beneficial assets, including recreational spaces, wildlife habitats and hosting solar energy development projects with eight sites collectively generating 60 megawatts of power.
Mitigating climate change and reducing emissions
WM tackles climate change through reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from landfills, fleet and electricity use, and through recycling services. Over the past decade, WM has reduced its carbon intensity as measured by emissions per ton of waste disposed.
WM consistently reduces fleet GHG emissions per mile driven, working toward a science-based target to cut fleet emissions by 45 percent by 2038, against a 2010 baseline. By the end of 2019, for every 1,000 miles driven, WM had reduced GHG emissions by 32 percent, and total GHG emissions by 36 percent for the collection and support fleet.
