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BUILDING TODAY, FOR TOMORROW

Our Sustainability Ambitions in Action

For more than 50 years, WM has played an important role in keeping our communities clean and safe. Today, we are focused on maximizing the value of resources and minimizing environmental impact, while working toward a future where materials are repurposed, energy is renewable and communities are thriving. This strong foundation has enabled us to become not only a service provider, but also a resource our customers depend on to help them meet their evolving needs. Now, as demand for recycled content and lower-emission energy sources grows, we are building the circular solutions that help communities thrive.
Testimonial
James C. Fish, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer
Testimonial
Tara Hemmer, Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer

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

15,237,738

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

15,061,702

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%

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

3.08

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%

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%

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

526,462

Progress

Since 2022, we have positively impacted 829,460 people, cumulatively, through targeted social impact programs.

$18.7 million4

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

A Sustainable Tomorrow Starts Today

Fuel FOR TOMORROW®: Landfill Gas to Renewable Energy

Here, FOR TOMORROW® with H-E-B

Sustainability in Sports

Circularity in Action | WM+UNIFI+Peter Millar

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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

News & Press Coverage

All WM News