Waste Management 2007 Annual Report Download - page 53

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 53 of the 2007 Waste Management annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 162

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113
  • 114
  • 115
  • 116
  • 117
  • 118
  • 119
  • 120
  • 121
  • 122
  • 123
  • 124
  • 125
  • 126
  • 127
  • 128
  • 129
  • 130
  • 131
  • 132
  • 133
  • 134
  • 135
  • 136
  • 137
  • 138
  • 139
  • 140
  • 141
  • 142
  • 143
  • 144
  • 145
  • 146
  • 147
  • 148
  • 149
  • 150
  • 151
  • 152
  • 153
  • 154
  • 155
  • 156
  • 157
  • 158
  • 159
  • 160
  • 161
  • 162

equipment, and operating properties are adequately maintained and sufficient for our current operations. However,
we expect to continue to make investments in additional equipment and property for expansion, for replacement of
assets, and in connection with future acquisitions. For more information, see Management’s Discussion and
Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations included within this report.
The following table summarizes our various operations at December 31 for the periods noted:
2007 2006
Landfills:
Owned .......................................................... 216 223
Operated through lease agreements(a) ................................... 26 24
Operated through contractual agreements ................................. 35 36
277 283
Transfer stations ..................................................... 341 342
Material recovery facilities . . . .......................................... 99 108
Secondary processing facilities .......................................... 6 5
Waste-to-energy facilities .............................................. 16 17
Independent power production plants ...................................... 5 5
(a) From an operating perspective, landfills we operate through lease agreements are similar to landfills we own
because we own the landfill’s operating permit and will operate the landfill for the entire lease term, which in
many cases is the life of the landfill.
The following table provides certain information by Group regarding the 242 landfills owned or operated
through lease agreements and a count, by Group, of contracted disposal sites as of December 31, 2007:
Landfills
Total
Acreage(a)
Permitted
Acreage(b)
Expansion
Acreage(c)
Contracted
Disposal
Sites
Eastern ........................ 41 29,435 5,934 601 6
Midwest........................ 73 28,251 7,081 1,827 9
Southern ....................... 81 39,590 12,039 507 12
Western ........................ 43 41,744 9,981 1,162 8
Wheelabrator .................... 4 781 289 — —
242 139,801 35,324 4,097 35
(a) “Total acreage” includes permitted acreage, expansion acreage, other acreage available for future disposal that
has not been permitted, buffer land and other land owned by our landfill operations.
(b) “Permitted acreage” consists of all acreage at the landfill encompassed by an active permit to dispose of waste.
(c) “Expansion acreage” consists of unpermitted acreage where the related expansion efforts meet our criteria to be
included as expansion airspace. A discussion of the related criteria is included within the Management’s
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Critical Accounting Estimates
and Assumptions section included herein.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
Information regarding our legal proceedings can be found under the Litigation section of Note 10 in the
Consolidated Financial Statements included in this report.
Item 4. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders.
We did not submit any matters to a vote of our stockholders during the fourth quarter of 2007.
18