A Look at Waste Management’s 2020 Sustainability Report

Waste Management (WM) recently released its 2020 Sustainability Report, “Building Value Together.” The report generally covers Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance for 2019 and early 2020. The report shows that the industry titan is keeping an eye toward long-term goals while acknowledging today’s challenges.

In an introductory message, CEO Jim Fish acknowledges the recent and ongoing challenges of COVID-19; growing calls for racial justice; and the continued urgency of the climate crisis — and notes that, “When Waste Management faces difficult times, we respond and work to recover and become stronger than before.” He also reminds readers that, “Amidst all of these crises, we haven’t lost sight of our essential role in protecting the environment and contributing to a circular economy. “

The report digs into WM’s top ESG goals and progress to-date. The company’s overarching environmental goal is to “reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while protecting the environment.” Currently, the services it provides avoid three times more GHG emissions than are generated in its operations. The company aims to increase this avoidance figure to “four times” by 2038.

WM’s overarching community goal is to “make the communities where we live and work safe, resilient and sustainable.” To this end, it is “investing in a quieter, cleaner fleet; supporting programs that preserve biodiversity and conservation; continuing our programs that prioritize community safety; and organizing environmental education programs and activities, including facility tours, community events and social media engagement campaigns.” In 2019, 393K people participated in WM supported/hosted education events and programs. The company aims to increase this figure to 1M by 2038.

The report also highlights WM’s 2019 commitment to six 2025 goals:

A subsequent section digs into how WM supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — and notes that, while WM has been contributing to all 17 goals since their introduction in 2015, it has refined its approach this year by aligning its 2025 and 2038 goals with eight particular SDGs. These targeted SDGs are: good health and wellbeing; affordable and clean energy; decent work and economic growth; industry, innovation, and infrastructure; reduced inequalities; sustainable cities and communities; responsible consumption and production; and climate action.

Much of the report is dedicated to showcasing how WM “builds value together” and “solves waste together” — through stories and case studies about collaborative partnerships with customers. For instance, through its Sustainable Sports and Entertainment division, WM works with stadiums, events and conferences “that require comprehensive management to bring new life to discarded materials and reduce environmental impacts.” Through its work at multiple events in 2019, the company helped to divert almost 2,500 tons of waste from landfills; divert 16 tons of food through donations; and achieve zero waste at eight events. One of those zero-waste events (eight years running) is the Waste Management Phoenix Open, a PGA Tour tournament that, in 2020, hosted more than 800,000 fans.

Other highlighted partnerships include a car seat trade-in program operated by Target, for which WM helps to turn the components of the seats into new products. From two such events in 2019, the company recycled 7 million pounds of car-seat materials.

The report acknowledges the increasing and increasingly relevant “plastics problem” and the steps the company is taking to help solve it. As it notes, WM “has been a leading voice in the call to focus on creating domestic market demand for products made with post-consumer recycled content. From home delivery and pizza boxes, to soda cans and water bottles, to fleece clothing and carpeting, manufacturers across the globe rely on recyclables from our MRFs as material inputs for their products. But significant opportunity remains to expand these markets further, and Waste Management is looking for new ways to generate demand among customers and within our business.”

The report further looks at other aspects of WM’s business including its organics initiatives; landfill innovations (including gas-to-electricity projects); fleet efficiency; Inclusion & Diversity; safety; and community and environmental programs.

Additionally, WM has created a new ESG Resource Hub to complement the report. It houses detailed information and data related its ESG performance, policies, and initiatives.

View the report here.