Waste Management 2015 Annual Report Download - page 71

billing and management of accounts to streamline the administration of customers’ multiple and nationwide
locations’ waste management needs.
Our Energy and Environmental Services organization offers our customers in all Areas a variety of services
in collaboration with our Area and strategic accounts programs, including (i) construction and remediation
services; (ii) services associated with the disposal of fly ash, residue generated from the combustion of coal and
other fuel stocks; (iii) in-plant services, where our employees work full-time inside our customers’ facilities to
provide full-service waste management solutions and consulting services; this service is managed through our
Energy and Environmental Services organization but reflected principally in our collection business and
(iv) specialized disposal services for oil and gas exploration and production operations; revenues for this service
are also reflected principally in our collection business. Our vertically integrated waste management operations
enable us to provide customers with full management of their waste. The breadth of our service offerings and the
familiarity we have with waste management practices gives us the unique ability to assist customers in
minimizing the amount of waste they generate, identifying recycling opportunities, determining the most
efficient means available for waste collection and disposal and ensuring that disposal is achieved in a manner that
is both reflective of the current regulatory environment and environmentally friendly.
We develop, operate and promote projects for the beneficial use of landfill gas through our WM Renewable
Energy Program. Landfill gas is produced naturally as waste decomposes in a landfill. The methane component
of the landfill gas is a readily available, renewable energy source that can be gathered and used beneficially as an
alternative to fossil fuel. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) endorses landfill gas as a
renewable energy resource, in the same category as wind, solar and geothermal resources. At December 31,
2015, we had 136 landfill gas beneficial use projects producing commercial quantities of methane gas at 122 of
our solid waste landfills and four third-party landfills. At 108 of these landfills, the processed gas is used to fuel
electricity generators. The electricity is then sold to public utilities, municipal utilities or power cooperatives. At
16 landfills, the gas is used at the landfill or delivered by pipeline to industrial customers as a direct substitute for
fossil fuels in industrial processes. At 11 landfills, the landfill gas is processed to pipeline-quality natural gas and
then sold to natural gas suppliers. At one landfill, the gas is processed into liquefied natural gas and used as
vehicle fuel.
We continue to invest in businesses and technologies that are designed to offer services and solutions
ancillary or supplementary to our current operations. These investments include joint ventures, acquisitions and
partial ownership interests. The solutions and services include the collection of project waste, including
construction debris and household or yard waste, through our Bagster®program; the development, operation and
marketing of plasma gasification facilities; operation of a landfill gas-to-liquid natural gas plant; solar powered
trash compactors; and organic waste-to-fuel conversion technology. We also offer portable self-storage and long
distance moving services through a joint venture; fluorescent bulb and universal waste mail-back through our
LampTracker®program; portable restroom servicing under the name Port-o-Let®; and street and parking lot
sweeping services. In addition, we hold interests in oil and gas producing properties.
Competition
We encounter intense competition from governmental, quasi-governmental and private sources in all aspects
of our operations. In North America, the industry consists primarily of two national waste management
companies and regional and local companies of varying sizes and financial resources, including companies that
specialize in certain discrete areas of waste management, operators of alternative disposal facilities and
companies that seek to use parts of the waste stream as feedstock for renewable energy and other by-products.
Some of our regional competitors can be significant competitors in local markets and are pursuing aggressive
regional growth strategies. We compete with these companies as well as with counties and municipalities that
maintain their own waste collection and disposal operations.
Operating costs, disposal costs and collection fees vary widely throughout the areas in which we operate.
The prices that we charge are determined locally, and typically vary by volume and weight, type of waste
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