UN SDGs

We provide our employees with access to quality education through multiple avenues, including numerous in-house skills training programs, tuition reimbursement and recruiting from traditionally underrepresented communities.

Our skills training programs range from self-guided online classes and refresher courses to multi-month Development Programs designed to upskill employees into new business areas.

Through our Your Tomorrow^SM benefit, we also provide all full-time employees and their dependents with 100% tuition coverage for Bachelor’s or Master’s degrees.

Our Innovative Employment Pathways (IEP)® program brings people who are currently out of the workforce into entry-level jobs at WM through three talent pipelines: veterans, fair chances (individuals impacted by homelessness, previous incarceration or disability) and youth development. IEP partners with workforce development nonprofits to provide relevant skills-training prior to onboarding.

Landfill gas, a biogas fuel, can be captured and beneficially used for multiple purposes, from fueling vehicles to electrifying homes. Capturing landfill gas benefits the environment by lowering our carbon footprint through the reduction of landfill emissions and supports our business by generating a revenue stream through the sale of renewable energy. Converting captured landfill gas into renewable energy reduces the amount of virgin fossil fuels that are used as energy sources by residences and businesses.

Our renewable natural gas facilities are co-located with our landfills and help to advance our closed-loop process — in which trucks haul waste to the landfill and then can be potentially fueled at the same landfill or through the allocation of renewable natural gas. Another way WM creates value from our landfill gas is by capturing it, generating renewable energy and then selling it directly to organizations and to utilities as an energy source for local communities.

In 2022, a new landfill gas-to-energy facility began operating at our East Oak Landfill, and we have 15 additional projects in development across the U.S. and Canada. Today, we operate 135 LFG-to-energy facilities, of which 17 produce RNG – the most in North America. We plan to invest $1+ billion to build approximately 20 new WM-owned RNG facilities by 2026.

WM also produces energy from a readily available, renewable source: decomposing organic waste. Our CORe® process converts food waste into EBS®, an organic slurry product used as a feedstock to generate renewable energy. Adding EBS® to a water treatment plant’s anaerobic digester can significantly increase the energy output from the system.

We continue to evaluate procurement opportunities to support renewable electricity projects in the US. We plan to continue to increase our renewable electricity through renewable energy credits related to both WM and third-party renewable electricity projects.

With the safety of our employees being our top priority, we track, document and continually assess safety at all of our sites and make improvements on an ongoing basis. In 2022, we rolled out our new WM Safety Vision & Promise to better communicate our safety-first culture. We also integrate automation technology into our new and existing facilities, including optical sorting in our recycling facilities and sensors in our Smart Trucks℠ to enhance safety and improve productivity.

We are committed to paying all employees a living wage and increasing the proportion of women in all roles and minorities in leadership roles.

Through our Innovative Employment Pathways(IEP)® program, we provide second-chance employment opportunities to overlooked and underserved community populations.

We regularly disclose key metrics on diversity and inclusion; freedom of association and collective bargaining; safety; carbon intensity; scope 3 emissions; water use and waste.

Our landfills, recycling facilities and landfill gas-to-energy facilities provide communities and businesses across North America with safe, reliable environmental infrastructure.

Our efforts include:

• Committing to invest $2+ billion in recycling and renewable energy infrastructure through 2026 to continue expanding sustainability services across the region.
• Integrating automation technology into our new and existing facilities, including optical sorting in our recycling facilities and sensors in our Smart Trucks℠, both to enhance safety and improve productivity.

We also work with research universities and nonprofit organizations to measure fugitive landfill gas emissions more accurately and deploy a number of measurement tools, including satellites, drones, ground sensors and more, at several landfills. We also support the development of a safer industry by sharing best practices on safety with our peers through our membership in organizations like the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) and the National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA).

WM is making strides to hire women and employees from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, with an emphasis on hiring these individuals into leadership roles. In 2019, we set a new goal to provide a living wage for all employees by 2025, which was fast-tracked and achieved in 2020.

Over time, WM has proactively shared opportunities for diverse populations by reaching out to many national and community-based organizations. WM also promotes supplier diversity, aiming for 10% year-over-year growth in annual spend with diverse suppliers.

WM also engages with community members to better understand local concerns and priorities, including issues relating to environmental justice (EJ). We utilize EJ tools, including the EPA’s EJSCREEN, to better understand the socioeconomic aspects and demographics of the communities immediately surrounding our sites. And our online WM Environmental Justice Mapping Tool cross-references data from EJSCREEN with WM sites nationwide.

WM is a leading provider of environmental services, including landfill, recycling, organics recycling and landfill gas-to-energy, in North America. Our services support the circular economy by diverting an increasing proportion of recyclable materials to reuse opportunities.

In addition, we are committed to reducing the emissions associated with our operations by more accurately measuring and capturing landfill gas and shifting to cleaner energy sources.

We have been working with the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC), a renowned conservation partner for businesses, for more than 30 years to support conservation efforts at our sites. Our 74 WHC-certified sites across North America are home to wildlife preservation, biodiversity and environmental education initiatives through nearly 300 projects.

WM’s business is to allow resources to be used more responsibly, so we continue to encourage people, communities and businesses to reduce waste and dispose of materials properly in their daily lives.

In 2022, we recovered nearly 15 million tons of recyclable materials, including paper, glass, plastic and harder-to-recycle items like textiles and plastic film. And our 41 organics recycling facilities recovered 3.8 million tons of material. We also safely contained over 26 million pounds of toxic chemicals at our hazardous waste landfills.

We maintain a suite of programs designed for safe disposal of hard-to handle materials and provide advisory services on waste reduction. Consumer education efforts through our Recycle Right® program and new automation technologies help reduce contamination levels at our single-stream facilities. Our Sustainability Services team works with customers to measure their GHG emissions and/or analyze their waste streams and provide tailored plans to reduce their environmental impact.

In our own operations, our supply chain team works to procure responsibly and sustainably made products. Each year, we disclose our waste generation, water use and carbon footprint in our annual sustainability report, as well as our online ESG Resource Hub.

Climate change is a global challenge that faces our society and businesses. WM is taking a leading role in transitioning to a low-carbon future by setting ambitious, science-based targets to reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions — and progressing towards those targets with actionable emissions reduction plans — and enabling solutions for others to reduce their emissions.

In 2022, we reduced our direct Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 10% over a 2021 baseline and our Scope 3 emissions due to emission factor updates. We achieved this, largely, by implementing significant gas collection and control system construction efforts at several landfills, increasing temporary cover by approximately 150 acres and increasing final caps by over 400 acres.

WM also provides customers with low carbon products and services that help them reduce their own GHG emissions, including:

• - recycling of traditional materials, unusual materials and organics;
• - generating renewable energy from landfill gas that can replace fossil fuel sources;
• - and customized consulting to help customers become more sustainable.

Our organics services help prevent food from being wasted and instead allow for its redistribution to keep this valuable material out of the landfill. For other organic material, we continue to invest in new or expanded programs to handle at end-of-life via composting, grinding and mulching, and/or through our proprietary organics recycling process known as CORe®.

And through our environmental education and conservation programs, we help inform the public about ways they can change their habits to positively contribute to our Earth.

The majority of marine pollution originates on land, which means that adequate waste management infrastructure and practices are necessary to reduce land-based waste from entering waterways.

WM provides waste collection and recycling services that capture and process millions of tons of materials every year. We are committed to increasing our recovery of materials through expansion of service, enhanced efficiency and reduced contamination.

Giving back to our communities is deeply ingrained within our culture. After all, the scale of our business and our geographic reach enable us to positively impact millions of people by improving the safety and sustainability of the communities in which we live and operate. Since 2018, we have reached more than 1.59 million people through environmental education programs.

Beyond our core business of providing environmental solutions, we also aim to give back to our communities and support causes that prioritize thriving communities and environmental stewardship. Additionally, we strive to educate individuals on the significance of living sustainably and preserving the natural areas in our communities.

We have been working with the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC), a renowned conservation partner for businesses, for more than 30 years to support conservation efforts at our sites across North America. Our 74 WHC-certified sites are home to wildlife preservation, biodiversity and environmental education initiatives through nearly 300 projects, protecting nearly 13,500 acres of land. Projects include planting pollinator gardens, tree systems, microforests and more.