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Sustainability Efforts

Waste Management is committed to meeting present needs without reducing the capacity of future generations to meet their needs.

Waste Management is the leader of, recycling and environmental services in North America. Waste Management of Utah provides commercial, industrial and residential solid waste collection and recycling along the Wasatch Front, actively working to develop effective programs to promote sustainability, reduce waste and increase the diversion of recyclables in the communities we serve. Waste Management is taking an active leadership role in sustainability issues throughout the country and in the State of Utah.

In October, 2007, WM CEO David Steiner was invited to speak at the World Business Forum. WM was recognized for our leadership in comprehensive waste management.  Mr. Steiner outlined four company-wide goals to help us continue to meet the growing need for smart, innovative waste management solutions. They are:

  • Garbage is a renewable energy source. Today we use it to create enough energy to power more than 1 million homes every year. That’s the equivalent of replacing 14 million barrels of oil or 3.6 million tons of coal every year. By 2020, we expect to double that output and power more than 2 million homes.
  • As North America’s largest recycler, we are committed to reduce, reuse and recycle. By 2020, we expect to triple the amount of recyclable materials we manage from 8 million to more than 20 million tons. Part of that will come from increasing our volumes through more single stream facilities, new technologies, through advanced construction and demolition waste recycling, and through new offerings like electronics recycling.
  • We will also be investing in cleaner technologies and technologies to enhance the waste business. Today, we have 24,000 vehicles in our fleet. We will ask our suppliers to develop a truck that improves fuel efficiency by 15 percent and reduces emissions by 15 percent between now and 2020. With truck spending of nearly $500 million per year, that’s a strong incentive for manufacturers to create technology for a new hybrid engine.
  • The Wildlife Habitat Council has certified 24 of our landfills as wildlife habitat, and by 2020, we anticipate a four-fold increase with up to 100 landfills certified by the Council. If we are successful, we will have set aside approximately 25,000 acres for conservation and wildlife habitat. That is more than one and a half times larger than Manhattan Island in New York City.