One of the many ways WM helps our customers operate more sustainably is through WM Sustainability and Environmental Solutions.

Through a suite of long-term advisory and implementation services, WM works closely with customers to achieve sustainability goals through two focus areas:

• On-site Support – WM team members are embedded at the facilities of industrial customers, advising on and providing solutions for cost savings, sustainable materials management and regulatory compliance.
• Sustainable Sports & Entertainment – Our professionals help advance sports teams, venues and organizations along the path to sustainability, leveraging knowledge of the complex needs and environmental impacts of stadiums and major events.

On-site Support

As one of the leading environmental service and solutions companies in the world, we are experts at optimizing efficient operations, minimizing environmental impact, instilling a culture of safety and accelerating performance. We leverage this expertise to customers across a wide range of industries, a longer-term advisory and implementation team that drives customer-focused results such as operational cost savings, environmental compliance, stakeholder engagement and corporate sustainability. By working with WM, customers gain access to WM’s resources, technologies and innovations, including operational strategies to mitigate the total cost of environmental program ownership.

Our diverse team of experts closely collaborates with a customer’s organization on-site and/or remotely to ensure that customer-approved environmental services, sustainable solutions and programs are executed to drive measurable value. WM Sustainability & Environmental Solutions is a single customer resource to centrally implement and manage solutions, programs, vendors and billing.

Designed for large, complex facilities, customized and proactive industrial waste management strategies offset overall environmental program expenses. Our single-point-of-contact experts work upstream into customers’ processes that generate significant waste, seeking ways to minimize costs and capture byproducts at their highest point of value.

For some customers, the best options for sustainable materials management involve leveraging both WM’s local assets and a broader network of third-party specialized providers. In this regard, we can serve as both broker and asset provider to increase efficiencies and meet customer goals for maximum reuse and recycling.

WM Sustainability & Environmental Solutions is an ISO 14001- and ISO 9001-certified division of WM, providing dedicated project management resources to assist customers in meeting their goals.

Industries served include:

Process Solutions

We consult with customers across industries on a systematic approach to build on existing processes. We then infuse environmental best practices and cultural improvements to enhance an organization’s ability to implement healthier, more sustainable practices into its operations.

Comprehensive reviews of the social, environmental and economic impact of our customers’ businesses allow us to generate recommendations for cost-effective ways to improve energy efficiency, resource management, waste diversion and disposal. We then develop detailed roadmaps for eliminating waste and executing this strategy on-site and/or remotely, often through reduced demand for source material and increased recycling. To do this, our operations team collaborates with customers seeking sole-source suppliers with the infrastructure and expertise to execute national waste reduction programs. With their understanding of each customer’s operations and unique challenges, experts can deliver low-risk, high-value solutions to complex environmental, business, safety and regulatory needs.

Analytical Solutions

Measuring environmental, social and economic impacts helps customers assess progress and provides valuable data to use as a baseline in understanding the environmental impact of materials management decisions. WM Sustainability & Environmental Solutions offers customers a portfolio of tools to measure, manage and communicate sustainability progress and goals, with the knowledge that accurate and clearly communicated data analysis is imperative to making strategic decisions.

This effort is led by our Nexus team, comprised of skilled developers, analysts and project managers who recognize, research, develop and implement technology and reporting solutions. The Nexus team provides solutions to customer challenges through services such as customized web-based business intelligence platforms, streamlined invoicing solutions, automated reporting, app and web development and comprehensive data analysis. Software and analytics platforms that we deploy include:

• ENSPIRE^® — A proprietary online business intelligence platform that aggregates and repackages raw sustainability data into one interactive dashboard. WM customers use ENSPIRE^® as a platform to consolidate their waste data from the U.S. and international locations for full transparency and ease of reporting. It helps them understand how waste management choices impact their environmental footprint and allows them to set goals for GHG reduction, zero-waste, and material reuse and recycling.
• Sustainability Tracker^SM — A leaner version of ENSPIRE^®, this tool is designed for customers with a smaller local or regional footprint who want to focus on specific key performance indicators in a condensed format for quick data evaluation.
• INSIGHTS — This service offering generates customized KPI scorecards based on our customer’s schedule. Customers automatically receive the information they need to make important operational decisions in their inbox.
• Diversion and Recycling Tracking (DART^®) — Our construction group’s DART^® tool helps project planners, contractors, architects and building owners set green performance targets and measures their progress during construction, renovation and demolition projects.

Associate Project Manager Program (APM)

WM acknowledges the challenges associated with change management. This situation requires a fluid, expedited implementation approach. The APM program was developed to ease transitions and improve retention. The APM is an on-the-job training position that develops Project Managers for WM’s Sustainability & Environmental Solutions team. The end game of this program is to drive value to both WM as well as our customers, ease the burden on our teams, and align with our People First commitment.

Measuring Customer Success

These services are designed to take our customers’ sustainability initiatives to the next level—regardless of where they are on their sustainability journey. We look at customer success through three lenses: efficiencies and cost savings, environmental footprint reduction and safety.

Sustainable Sports & Entertainment

The WM Sports and Entertainment Team helps leagues, venues, teams, and events with comprehensive sustainability program development. For some, this may begin by tracking GHG impact data, identifying sustainability goals and evaluating operations to develop a plan of action. Others already have a vision but need assistance with program implementation and engagement strategies. No matter where sports organizations are today, WM helps them work toward a more sustainable tomorrow.

WM supports foundational sustainability program development across football, hockey, motorsports, basketball, baseball, volleyball, running, and golf. The WM Sports and Entertainment is currently driving holistic sustainability programs for five leagues, eight venues, nine golf tournaments, and a number of other sports and entertainment organizations.

An annual example of WM’s expertise in planning and executing sustainable events is the WM Phoenix Open, the largest third-party-certified zero-waste event in the world.