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Highlights & Awards

Our 2020 Sustainability Report proves our commitment to continuous improvement. Throughout this report, you’ll find stories that describe how Waste Management and our stakeholders are Building Value Together. In addition to these stories, we’re proud to share the following highlights from the past year.

People First Highlights

Our Commitments & Values are the foundation by which we are elevating our dedication to a People First organization. Putting our people first means achieving success with integrity. These guiding principles ensure that we’ll never lose sight of the things we value most: our people, our customers, our environment, our dedication to safety and our continuous goal to create great places to work for all.

National Recognition

We’re proud to have been recognized for our efforts to create a rewarding workplace and operate a sustainable business. Below are a few awards and recognitions we received in 2019 and 2020. A full list of awards can be found on our ESG Resources Hub.

2019 Corporate Leadership Award–Employee Engagement, Wildlife Habitat Council

2019 Climate
Change A-List, CDP

2020 Sustainability Yearbook, Gold Class, S&P Global

2019 Sector Leader, Dow Jones Sustainability Index

2020 World’s Most Admired
Companies, Fortune Magazine

2020 World’s Most Ethical Companies, Ethisphere Institute

2020 100 Best Corporate Citizens, CR Magazine

Environmental Highlights

Emissions Intensity Reduction

Over the past decade, we have consistently decreased the intensity of our emissions. Even as we are managing more waste today than we were 10 years ago, our emissions per ton of waste disposed have continued to decline. We are investing in the latest fleet technology to produce and use renewable energy, and we are exploring ways to better measure landfill emissions in order to develop more precise approaches to managing these emissions.

Metric Tons of Carbon Dioxide per Ton of Waste Disposed

Bar chart showing Waste Management's Metric Tons of Carbon Dioxide per Ton of Waste Disposed from 2010 through 2019

Fleet Leadership

We are also consistently reducing our GHG emissions per mile driven. By the end of 2019, for every 1,000 miles driven, we had reduced our GHG emissions by 32%, and total GHG emissions by 36% for our collection and support fleet. We’ve achieved these reductions through logistical efficiencies, transitioning to natural gas vehicles, and by increasing our use of renewable fuel.

Total Collection & Support Fleet
Metric Tons of GHGs per 1,000 Miles Driven

Scatter plot and line chart showing Waste Management's Total Collection & Support Fleet in Metric Tons of GHGs per 1,000 Miles Driven from 2010 to 2019

Recycling Growth and Investment

Over the past decade, Waste Management has become an industry leader in our commitment to invest in recycling infrastructure with long-term sustainability in mind. We invested more than $100 million in recycling infrastructure in both 2018 and 2019, and set a new record in 2019, with over 15.5 million tons of material processed for beneficial use.

Million Tons of Recyclables Managed

Bar chart showing Waste Management's Million Tons of Recyclables Managed from 2010 through 2019.

Metric Tons of Carbon Dioxide per Ton of Waste Disposed

Total Collection & Support Fleet
Metric Tons of GHGs per 1,000 Miles Driven

Million Tons of Recyclables Managed