Waste Management 2008 Annual Report Download - page 23

We use our expertise to help other companies
meet their sustainability goals.
In today’s environment, nearly every organization
has sustainability goals, either by their own
initiative or in response to pressure by
customers or employees. Many companies
need help meeting those goals, and that’s where
Waste Management can play an important role.
WM UPSTREAM® .For 15 years, Waste Management’s
Upstream group has provided comprehensive
waste solutions—ranging from lean manufacturing
to zero waste—that help customers achieve their
recycling, environmental, and sustainability goals.
By working closely with customers to determine
the root sources of waste and pollution, Upstream
helps create a multifaceted waste strategy and,
often, a complete closed loop—from collecting the
waste and putting it to beneficial use by either
transforming end-of-life waste into materials that
can be reintroduced into the material supply chain,
or converting it to landfill gas for use as power in
customers’ facilities.
From a business standpoint, this lowers
customers’ cost structure by reducing, minimizing,
and even eliminating waste from the production
of goods or services. Just as important, it reduces
the impact of their operations on the environment.
Here are some examples of how we work
to help our customers meet their objectives
for sustainability:
• For Caterpillar, Upstream developed a waste-
reduction strategy that targets a decrease in carbon
emissions by approximately 2,500 metric tons—
equivalent to removing more than 2,000 cars from
the roads or saving 286,000 gallons of gasoline.
• On a $12 billion construction project in an
isolated area of Canada, a partnership between
Suncor and Waste Management is committed to
divert and recycle 75 percent of the material that
would have gone to landfills by installing a full-time
material recovery facility at the construction site.
THE GREEN SQUADSM.In 2008, Waste Management
assembled a team of its experts to provide
sustainability assessments for commercial and
light industrial customers. The Green Squad helps
customers reduce their environmental impact
while improving operational efficiencies and
increasing cost savings. The Green Squad can
move in quickly and assess a customer’s current
state of operations, looking for environmental
problem areas. With client input and on-site
research, the Green Squad develops a custom
plan of action to help a customer become a
greener, more sustainable company. Offering
waste assessments, LEED consulting, and energy
audits, the Green Squad is able to develop and
implement greener practices for customers more
quickly and capably than they could on their own.
LEED CERTIFICATION. Waste Management also
participates in the U.S. Green Building Council's
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design) Certification program. LEED certification
provides independent, third-party verification that
a building project meets the highest green building
and performance measures. We incorporate
LEED guidelines into the building, design, and
construction of our own facilities and into our
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2008 ANNUAL REPORT