Waste Management’s new report details company’s commitment to social responsibility.
Saving 41 million trees and producing enough green energy to power nearly one million homes. That’s part of the real business of Waste Management. The company collects and disposes of garbage from across the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, but making a difference to the environment and the communities it serves are the company’s commitment.

To highlight its many environmental projects and community partnerships, Waste Management has published a social responsibility report, “It Starts with Commitment,” to share its progress towards its environmental stewardship goals.

“We ask ourselves, where does our responsibility as a company end and our responsibility as members of the community and custodians of the earth begin,” said David Steiner, Waste Management CEO. “Ultimately, we should do everything we can to benefit our own neighborhoods, families, cities and quality of life. We are stewards of the earth’s resources. This report lets stakeholders know about our efforts - both internally and externally - to Think Green!”

For example, Waste Management’s renewable energy projects generate enough green energy to power more than 800,000 homes and save the equivalent of more than eight million barrels of oil annually. Additionally, the company’s landfills provide roughly 17,000 acres of protected land for wildlife habitat, and 15 landfills are certified by the Wildlife Habitat Council.

Relying upon their experience, opportunity and resources, Waste Management provides leadership that makes recycling a sustainable solution for all customers: residential, commercial, municipal and industrial. The social responsibility report also details the company’s strong recycling statistics over the past few years along with real-world examples of recycling in communities across both the U.S. and Canada.

The report itself is a green success story. The book was printed on 30 percent post-consumer recyclable paper, which was manufactured at a paper mill that is powered by methane gas from a Waste Management landfill. The Cascades Fine Papers Group mill in Saint-Jerome, Quebec, is powered by gas from Waste Management’s Sainte-Sophie landfill near Montreal. The methane gas, which is produced naturally as waste decomposes, is recovered and transported through an eight-mile (13 kilometer) pipeline. This circle of environmental stewardship reflects our commitment to preserve the environment and all of its natural resources, from forest and earth to sky and water. Water use, residue management, greenhouse gas reduction, energy and raw material savings are among the factors that are positively impacted by the manufacture of this paper in this manner.

To learn more about Waste Management’s green energy practices and to view a PDF of the social responsibility report, visit their Website at: http://www.wm.com/WM/ThinkGreen/wm_srr_2006.pdf