Waste Management 2013 Annual Report Download - page 173

WASTE MANAGEMENT, INC.
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Years Ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011
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 beneficiaries as
described in Note 20. 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 “WM,” we are referring only to Waste Management, Inc., the parent holding company.
We are North America’s leading provider of comprehensive waste management environmental services. We
partner with our residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers and the communities we serve to
manage and reduce waste at each stage from collection to disposal, while recovering valuable resources and
creating clean, renewable energy. Our “Solid Waste” business is operated and managed locally by our
subsidiaries that focus on distinct geographic areas and provides collection, transfer, recycling and resource
recovery, and disposal services. Through our subsidiaries, we are also a leading developer, operator and owner of
waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States.
We evaluate, oversee and manage the financial performance of our Solid Waste business subsidiaries
through our 17 geographic Areas. Our Wheelabrator business provides waste-to-energy services and manages
waste-to-energy facilities and independent power production plants. We also provide additional services that are
not managed through our Solid Waste or Wheelabrator businesses, which are presented in this report as “Other.”
Additional information related to our segments can be found in Note 21.
2. Accounting Changes and Reclassifications
Accounting Changes
Comprehensive Income — In February 2013, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued
amended authoritative guidance associated with comprehensive income, which requires companies to provide
information about the amounts that are reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income by
component. Additionally, companies are required to present significant amounts reclassified out of accumulated
other comprehensive income by the respective line items of net income. The amendment to authoritative
guidance associated with comprehensive income was effective for the Company on January 1, 2013. The
adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. We have
presented the information required by this amendment in Note 14.
In June 2011, the FASB issued amended authoritative guidance associated with comprehensive income,
which requires companies to present the total of comprehensive income, the components of net income, and the
components of other comprehensive income either in a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or
in two separate but consecutive statements. This update eliminates the option to present the components of other
comprehensive income as part of the statement of changes in equity. The amendments to authoritative guidance
associated with comprehensive income were effective for the Company on January 1, 2012 and have been
applied retrospectively. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on our consolidated
financial statements.
Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets Impairment Testing — In July 2012, the FASB amended authoritative
guidance associated with indefinite-lived intangible assets impairment testing. The amended guidance provides
companies the option to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether the existence of events or
circumstances leads to a determination that it is more likely than not that the indefinite-lived intangible asset is
impaired. If, after assessing the totality of events or circumstances, an entity determines it is not more likely than
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