Skip to Main Content
(Press Enter)

/ Environmental /
Environmental Compliance

Related Content

Our goal for environmental compliance is simple: zero deviations from regulatory standards, and sound environmental practice. The goal of the Environmental Management System is to prevent conditions that could result in violations. If conditions that could result in violations occur, corrective and preventive actions are implemented as quickly as possible. We have not yet achieved our goal of zero violations, but we continue to take any departure from regulations, no matter how small, very seriously.

Waste Management was cited for seven violations in 2018 that constituted formal enforcement actions and 1 in 2019. The figure below charts our year-over-year performance — from 2009 through 2015 — with respect to environmental notices of violation (NOVs) received. For 2016 through 2019, we are using the metric recommended by SASB, formal enforcement actions alleged to have environmental impacts.

Number of Violations
Year Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
2019 0 0 0 1
2018 2 2 1 2
2017 0 0 0 1
2016 2 0 0 2
2015 23 21 21 23
2014 25 23 29 28
2013 22 22 23 22
2012 25 23 30 24
2011 20 20 13 20
2010 16 30 36 18
2009 20 17 21 11

Significant Spills

Waste Management is committed to reducing the number and volume of leaks and spills that occur as part of our operations. We track the volume of fluids our trucks use and train drivers to report any leaks or spills they observe. We also require all significant spills to be reported to the corporate office via the Environmental Incident Notification System. The chart below summarizes all spills of a size significant enough that we were required to report them to the National Response Center.

Number of Reportable Spills

Bar chart showing the number of reportable spills by year from 2006 to 2019
Number of Reportable Spills
2006 10
2007 6
2008 5
2009 4
2010 0
2011 2
2012 1
2013 0
2014 3
2015 0
2016 7
2017 4
2018 6
2019 4