1 A New Way of Living Think Green Waste Management

A New Way of Living Think Green Waste Management

Professor Dorothy Valentine Communication for Business and the Professions June 11, 2009

2 A New Way of Living Think Green Waste Management

Contents

Executive Summary Introduction Environmental Problems Workforce Diversity Complaint Procedures Conclusion and Recommendations Works Cited 8-9

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3 A New Way of Living Think Green Waste Management

Waste Management is North Americas leading provider of comprehensive waste and environmental services. In 2008, United States (US) residents, businesses, and institutions produced more than 251 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW), which is approximately 4.6 pounds of waste, per person per day.

They collect 83 million tons of solid waste per year, has 17 waste-to-energy plants, 95 beneficial-use landfill gas projects and 131 recycling plants. With 22,000 collection and transfer vehicles, the company has the largest trucking fleets in the waste industry. The company uses advanced technology and disciplined programs to bring improved efficiency to the process of solid waste collection.

Most people identify them by their green trucks and green bins. They think of them as a garbage company. People do not see them as the environmental services company that provides the sustainability platform for families, businesses and municipalities. Waste Management has a goal to help ensure that they pass on the planet to the next generation in better shape than they inherited it. When they Think Green, they think of a world with so many clean alternative ways to produce power that the threat of exhausting the natural resources is forever put to rest.

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The refuse collection industry is using innovative technology that will help decrease the depletion of the Earths natural resources. One company in particular comes to mind when we Think Green, Waste Management. As the leading provider of comprehensive waste management, recycling and environmental services in North America, Waste Management serves municipal, commercial, industrial and residential customers throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, the company serves more than 20 million residential and commercial customers through its network of collection operations, transfer stations, landfill disposal sites, waste-to-energy plants, independent power production plants, recycling facilities, beneficial-use landfill gas projects and other related services.

Like most industries, the waste industry is impacted by the U.S. economy. Waste is a renewable energy source. Today we use it to create enough energy to power more than 1 million homes every year. Thats the equivalent of replacing 14 million barrels of oil or 4.1 million tons of coal every year. With the increased demand for disposable products, more waste is produced and creates a demand for a disposal service that will be supplied by companies competing to service those same customers. In addition to supply and demand, there is an economic recession

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approaching the U.S. economy, which may offer the opposite effect. Price gouging is inevitable and budgets will start to reflect only necessities such as food and public utilities.

Environmental problems have become so complex that many individuals feel they can have no effect on them. A residential customer in St. Marys County, Maryland purchases WMs services for $112.00 per quarter, while a competitor is offering less expensive waste disposal services. This may effect Waste Management because as a respected brand the cost for service may be expensive.

The JDPower surveyed 349 residential customers in 2009 and 56.4% stated they would recommend Waste Management service, 55.7% stated that would prefer to do business with Waste Management, 51.0% states that Waste Management represents their brand, and 43.9% states Waste Management is active and involved in the community.

Long time customer will cancel their accounts to go to a cheaper hauler but will they receive the outstanding quality customer service that Waste Management prides itself on? Waste Management is negotiating their prices for new business by waving part of their setup fee to offset the competition.

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Another challenge that threatens this eager corporation is the workforce diversity. This is a major challenge due to all the nationalities in the work force. Problems with understanding the needs and wants of a diverse group without offending their cultural backgrounds, age, abilities, lifestyles, and beliefs.

Waste Management is strongly committed to upholding ethical standards and promoting diversity and inclusion. All employees and other performing work on behalf of the company are expected to adhere to the laws and regulations that apply to their work activities and demonstrate ethical behavior in all their decisions and interactions.

Waste Management has created an environment where employees understand standards of ethical conduct and abide by those standards. They have also identified and developed qualified minority and woman owned suppliers that add value to the supply chain. Waste Management provides a mechanism for employees to confidentially and or anonymously communicate breaches in the ethical or inclusive behavior without fear of retribution or retaliation conduct.

They ensure each and every employee is in possession of a current and relevant Code of Conduct, entitled Focus on Integrity and Inclusion. They also operate an Integrity Help Line to assist employees who have questions or concerns in this matter.

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Another emerging challenge that Waste Management may face is complaint procedures for accounting and auditing matters. Any director, officer or employee of the company may submit a good faith complaint regarding accounting or auditing matters to the management of the company without fear of dismissal or retaliation of any kind. The company will also review concerns submitted by others. The company is committed to achieving compliance with all applicable securities laws and regulations, accounting standards, accounting controls and audit practices.

In order to facilitate the reporting of complaints, the Companys Audit Committee has established the following procedures for the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints regarding accounting, internal accounting controls, or auditing matters and the confidential, anonymous submission of concerns regarding questionable accounting or auditing matters.

Each complaint will be reviewed and investigated by the senior vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer and the vice president of internal audit and/ or such other persons as the audit committee determines to be appropriate.

Unless determined otherwise by the audit committee, the senior vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer and the vice president of internal audit, together with others company employees, will investigate, or oversee the investigation, of the complaint, determine the underlying facts and report there findings to the audit committee as well as determining the appropriate report to be made to the companys external independent auditor.

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Energy savings are a very important environmental benefit of recycling, because using energy requires the consumption of scarce fossil fuels and involve emissions of numerous air and water pollutants. Recycling a ton of glass saves the equivalent of nine gallons of fuel oil. Recycling one aluminum can saves enough electricity to light a 100-watt bulb for three hours. By reducing the amount of energy used by industry, recycling also reduces greenhouse gas emissions and helps prevent global climate change. In addition to greenhouse gases, recycling can reduce a range of pollutants from entering the air and water.

Waste Management is collaborating with businesses, industries, and public utilities across the country to develop beneficial-use projects from landfill gas. With renewable energy produced from the natural gas produced in their landfills, WM gives backs to the communities, as they are neighbors of the environment as well.

Throughout the country, Waste Management landfills share common ground with community needs. They often set aside buffer areas surrounding their landfills for community use, providing athletic facilities, sports fields, biking trails, parks, playgrounds and other recreational facilities for the enjoyment of the community.

Waste Management also has initiated cooperative ventures with communities, local governments and developers to restore former landfills to active life as recreational and commercial facilities. These projects not only facilitate the beneficial use of otherwise idle land, but also provide communities with new opportunities for projects that are economically sound and enhance the quality of life.

9 A New Way of Living Think Green Waste Management

Think of a world where we partner with our customers to use our knowledge and experience to their benefit and the benefit of the plant, leading them to new, sustainable solutions and working with every link in the supply chain to address the entire life cycle of a product.

Waste Management feels together, they can become more efficient, engineering products using fewer valuable resources, designing products to recover the raw materials in them when they can no longer be reuses, and innovating to convert waste products into new products or renewable energy at the end of their lives.

Waste Management pioneered landfill-gas-to-energy technology 20 years ago and has continued to innovate and improve the process for reliability and efficiency. As the nations largest owner and operator of landfills, they are in a unique position to expand the domestic energy supply through landfill-gas-to-energy technology.

Their landfills represent around 15 percent of landfills operating in the United States. This energy that can be produced at these facilities is especially valuable to utilities because it is a consistent, cost-effective and reliable source of energy that can be used for base load power.

Waste Management recognizes that accountability is important. They are committed to reporting on their progress toward achieving their sustainability goals, as well as progress on other key sustainability metrics relevant to our business. Waste Management thinks of a world where their commitment to excellence and leadership has positioned them to deliver lasting solutions to the environmental challenges the planet will face in the 21st century.

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References

Accounting Concerns. Retrieved August 19, 2008 from Waste Management web site: http://www.wm.com/wm/ethics-diversity/accounting_concerns.asp Corporate Profile. Retrieved August 11, 2008 from Waste Management web site: http://www.wm.com/wm/about/corporate_profile.asp Environmental News. Retrieved August 11, 2008 from Waste Management web site: http://www.wm.com/wm/environews.asp Ethics & Diversity Policy. Retrieved August 19, 2008 from Waste Management web site: http://www.wm.com/wm/ethics-diversity/ethics_policy.asp 2008 Annual Report. Retrieved August 11, 2008 from Waste Management web site: http://www.wm.com/investor/subscriptions/2008/2008 Annual Report.pdf