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Reporting and Materiality
We have participated in CDP since 2004, which includes responding to the CDP Climate Change questionnaire, aligned with TCFD. As a result of our commitment to robust and transparent reporting, we have been named a Commercial Services & Supplies Sector Leader by DJSI and appeared on the CDP Climate Disclosure Leadership Index and A-List for the last 15 years.
Assurance
We currently do not seek external assurance for all elements of this report. Our 2020 GHG emissions inventory has been assured by Aster Global Environmental Solutions, Inc. The inventory includes direct (Scope 1 and 2) emissions and indirect (Scope 3) GHG emissions from the following sources:
- Purchased goods and services
- Capital goods
- Investments
- Business travel
- Employee commuting
- Downstream leased assets
- Upstream leased assets
See our complete assurance statement.
Materiality Assessment
The content of our 2021 Sustainability Report has been compiled and organized based upon insights from a materiality assessment conducted by an internal team. This team is charged with ongoing stakeholder engagement, including participation in key business and multistakeholder organizations, media relations, disclosure of sustainability information for sales and marketing purposes and completion of sustainability survey requests.
In 2019, we performed a reassessment of issues, risks and opportunities that are material to our sustainability strategy in a changing global climate. This assessment helped us identify topics that are strategically important to our company and stakeholders while guiding decision-making across our value chain.
The assessment was conducted in four stages:
- Identification – Through a detailed analysis of WM’s value chain and review of GRI’s definition and guidelines for materiality, we developed the overarching themes of Governance, Community, Environment and Supply Chain. These themes contain a total of 24 material topics.
- Surveys – We constructed a comprehensive survey of our identified issues, which included follow-up questions and qualitative response options to allow for in-depth understanding of the reasoning behind survey results. Both internal and external stakeholders were surveyed.
- Interviews – We selected external stakeholders that represent key partners from our supply chain, valued customers with established relationships and municipal partnerships, as well as nonprofit and industry association contributors. Internally, WM interviewed employees who represent key pillars of our business at a senior level.
- Additional Input – We incorporated a variety of external media scans and reputation-based data sets to expand and complement our understanding of internal and external stakeholder perspectives.
Materiality Matrix
Environment
- Climate Impact
- Energy Efficiency
- Internal Waste Generated
- Local Environment
- Recycling Reporting
- Sustainable Procurement
- Water Use
Social
- Community Engagement
- Community Investment
- Customer Relationships
- Employee Training
- Health & Safety
- Human Rights & Diversity
- Sustainable Development Goals
- Vendor Screening
- Vendor Training
Governance
- Business Ethics
- Climate Strategy
- Environmental Management System
- Environmental Penalties
- Leadership Accountability
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Supply Chain Policy
- Technology Innovations
Key Material Issues
External Stakeholders
- Recycling Reporting
- Leadership Accountability
- Health & Safety
Internal Stakeholders
- Business Ethics
- Health & Safety
- Leadership Accountability
Analysis
Our materiality assessment confirmed a significant degree of alignment between internal and external stakeholders. We noted the rise of forward-thinking environmental topics such as climate impact and the UN SDGs as having increased importance compared with our previous materiality assessment. Climate Impact was selected by 39% of our external stakeholders during our interview process as being material to their business, demonstrating the increased attention being given to our impact on the planet. Additional analyses on this new assessment will provide further insight for strategic planning.
Among internal stakeholders, including WM’s senior leaders, we heard that topics such as Health & Safety and Business Ethics were considered to be necessary prerequisites. Therefore, many of these stakeholders focused their assessments on forward-thinking topics, such as Technology Innovation and the UN SDGs. Based on this insight, we learned that our leadership is focused on the WM of the future with Health & Safety, Leadership Accountability and other People First topics ingrained into what we do every day.
External stakeholder interviews provided insight into the interconnectivity between our material issues. For example, one stakeholder selected Technology Innovations as material, justifying their choice by saying that, while topics such as Energy Efficiency and Climate Impact were key to their strategy, they felt that technology was the enabler to those goals. Multiple stakeholders shared that they selected a material topic that they believed closely related to others on the list.