Waste Management 2008 Annual Report Download - page 96
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NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Years ended December 31, 2008, 2007 and 2006
1. Business
The financial statements presented in this report represent the consolidation of Waste Management, Inc., a
Delaware corporation; Waste Management’s wholly-owned and majority-owned subsidiaries; and certain variable
interest entities for which Waste Management or its subsidiaries are the primary beneficiary as described in Note 19.
Waste Management is a holding company and all operations are conducted by its subsidiaries. When the terms “the
Company,” “we,” “us” or “our” are used in this document, those terms refer to Waste Management, Inc., its
consolidated subsidiaries and consolidated variable interest entities. When we use the term “WMI,” we are referring
only to Waste Management, Inc., the parent holding company.
We are the leading provider of integrated waste services in North America. Using our vast network of assets
and employees, we provide a comprehensive range of waste management services. Through our subsidiaries we
provide collection, transfer, recycling, disposal and waste-to-energy services. In providing these services, we
actively pursue projects and initiatives that we believe make a positive difference for our environment, including
recovering and processing the methane gas produced naturally by landfills into a renewable energy source. Our
customers include commercial, industrial, municipal and residential customers, other waste management compa-
nies, electric utilities and governmental entities.
We manage and evaluate our principal operations through six operating Groups, of which four are organized by
geographic area and two are organized by function. The geographic Groups include our Eastern, Midwest, Southern
and Western Groups, and the two functional Groups are our Wheelabrator Group, which provides waste-to-energy
services, and our WM Recycle America, or WMRA, Group, which provides recycling services not managed by our
geographic Groups. We also provide additional waste management services that are not managed through our six
Groups, which are presented in this report as “Other.” Refer to Note 20 for additional information related to our
segments.
2. Accounting Changes and Reclassifications
Accounting Changes
SFAS No. 157 — Fair Value Measurements
In September 2006, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued SFAS No. 157, Fair Value Measure-
ments, which defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value, and expands disclosures about
fair value measurements. Effective January 1, 2008, we adopted SFAS No. 157 for assets and liabilities recognized
at fair value on a recurring basis. Our adoption of SFAS No. 157 during the first quarter of 2008 resulted in the
recognition of a $6 million charge to operating expenses and a corresponding $3 million credit to minority interest
expense for the re-measurement of the fair value of environmental remediation recovery assets accounted for in
accordance with Statement of Position No. 96-1, Environmental Remediation Liabilities. The adoption of
SFAS No. 157 did not materially affect our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
Refer to Note 17 for information about our fair value measurements.
SFAS No. 158 — Employers’ Accounting for Defined Benefit Pension and Other Postretirement Plans
In September 2006, the FASB issued SFAS No. 158, Employers’ Accounting for Defined Benefit Pension and
Other Postretirement Plans — an amendment of FASB Statements No. 87, 88, 106, and 132(R). SFAS No. 158
requires companies to recognize the overfunded or underfunded status of their defined benefit pension and other
post-retirement plans as an asset or liability and to recognize changes in that funded status through comprehensive
income in the year in which the changes occur. As required, we adopted the recognition provisions of SFAS No. 158
on December 31, 2006.
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