BUILDING TODAY, FOR TOMORROW
Our Sustainability Ambitions in Action
Progress Toward Our Goals
Leveraging our infrastructure, innovation and expertise, we have set three bold sustainability ambitions: material is repurposed, energy is renewable and communities are thriving. By investing in technology to maximize the reuse of materials, the systems and infrastructure to advance decarbonization and the tools and educational resources to empower people to live sustainably, we’re Building Today, For Tomorrow®.
Material is REPURPOSED
Goals
Circularity
Increase recovery of materials by 60% to 25 million tons per year by 2030, including an interim milestone of a 25% increase by 2025
Units
Tons recovered
2021
15,337,456
2022
14,831,559
2023
15,237,738i
Progress
3% increase in material recovery since 2022. The slight decline in material recovery from our 2021 baseline is due in part to facility upgrades that require temporary shutdowns during construction.
Energy is RENEWABLE
Goal
Climate Impact
Reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 42% by 2031 from a 2021 base year1
Units
Metric tons CO2e
2021
17,158,208
2022
15,460,480
2023
15,061,702i
Progress
12% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions from 2021 baseline.
Goal
Target beneficial use of 65% of our captured landfill gas (LFG) by 2026
Units
Percent LFG to beneficial use
2021
45%
2022
45%
2023
43%i
Progress
We continue to increase the total volume of landfill gas captured and our total amount of renewable energy generated from landfill gas, with the former at a slightly faster rate.
Communities are THRIVING
Goal
Safety
Reduce Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) annually, targeting 2.0 by 2030; and continued focus on prevention of serious injuries
Units
Injuries/200,000 work hours
2021
3.00
2022
3.02
2023
3.08i
Progress
Increase in TRIR is due in part to safety profiles of new acquisitions. We continue to emphasize our safety vision ‘Get Home Safe Every Day’ which is focused on safe actions and proactive safety protocol assessments.
Goal
Diversity and Inclusion
Represent the communities we serve, including opportunities for:
- female representation in frontline to leadership roles
- minority representation in supervisor and above roles2
Units
Female representation
Minority representation
2021
19.4%
21.5%
2022
18.9%
22.9%
2023
18.8%i
Progress
We continue to cultivate a culture of belonging through reducing barriers for perspective candidates to supporting career aspirations by emphasizing the importance of training and education opportunities for all employees.
2023
26.4%i
Progress
We continue to cultivate a culture of belonging through reducing barriers for perspective candidates to supporting career aspirations by emphasizing the importance of training and education opportunities for all employees.
Goal
Social Impact
Positively impact 10 million people in our communities through targeted social impact programs by 2030, using the equivalent of 2% of our net income3
Units
People positively impacted
Charitable contributions
2021
$14.3 million
2022
302,998
$15.9 million
2023
526,462i
Progress
Since 2022, we have positively impacted 829,460 people, cumulatively, through targeted social impact programs.
$18.7 million4i
Progress
Charitable contributions in 2023 represented 0.8% of our 2023 net income.
1 The target boundary includes land-related emissions and removals from bioenergy feedstocks
2 Minority representation references both racial and ethnic characteristics self-identified by team members for U.S. workforce only
3Total annual charitable contributions are compared to the same year’s annual net income
4Expanded reporting in 2023 to include donations that support select workforce development programs and earmarked local donations
2023 Key Achievements
Over 15 million tons
of material recovered
Opened or upgraded eight recycling facilities
bringing WM’s recycling facilities count to 102
Added nine organics processing facilities
bringing WM’s organics processing facilities count to 49
Increased material recovery capacity by 878K tons
from 2022
74% of WM residential customers
have recycling services
Expanded textile sorting pilots
at two recycling facilities
1 Landfill gas converted to energy is a measure of energy produced at renewable energy facilities on WM landfills, inclusive of WM-owned-and-operated and third-party
2 Through retiring renewable energy certificates (RECs) generated from our own landfill gas-to-electricity facilities
Awards Reflecting Our Leadership in Sustainability
2023 A- Rating
CDP
2024 S&P Global Sustinabiltiy Yearbook Member
S&P Global
2024 Best Employers for Diversity
Forbes
2024 World's Most Ethical Companies
Ethisphere