{"id":12955,"date":"2016-11-04T17:14:31","date_gmt":"2016-11-04T21:14:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/waste-management-is-cleaning-up-its-act\/"},"modified":"2016-11-04T17:14:31","modified_gmt":"2016-11-04T21:14:31","slug":"waste-management-is-cleaning-up-its-act","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/waste-management-is-cleaning-up-its-act\/","title":{"rendered":"Waste Management is Cleaning Up its Act"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"wm-logo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Every single day, the average American generates approximately 4.4 pounds of waste, representing 1.7 pounds\u00a0more than the average American produced in 1960.\u00a0 This results in approximately 254 million tons of waste per year, 55% of which ends up in one of the 3,500 landfills in the United States.\u00a0 Roughly 87 million tons of this waste is recycled (equivalent to a 34% recycling rate, a rate that has been slowing over the past several years)[1]<\/a>.\u00a0 While there are many factors contributing to the growing amount of waste disposed in our landfills (see exhibits below), to put it simply, we must address the waste management industry\u2019s growing problem if we intend to seriously combat climate change.<\/p>\n

\"tom-challenge-1\"<\/a>\"tom-challenge-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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How Climate Change Affects the Environmental Services Industry<\/em><\/p>\n

Municipal solid waste landfills are the second-largest source of human-related methane emissions in the U.S., accounting for 22% of all methane emissions in 2008[2]<\/a>.\u00a0 Methane is one of the more dangerous greenhouse gases contributing to climate change; this is a serious problem because of how costly the problem is to fix.<\/em>\u00a0 For waste haulers, the adoption of climate change legislation or regulations restricting emissions of greenhouse gases could significantly increase operating costs, thus deteriorating margins within a very competitive industry landscape. \u00a0The Prevention of Significant Deterioration and Title V Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule, adopted in 2010 by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), expanded the EPA\u2019s federal air permitting authority to include the six greenhouse gases. \u00a0This increased regulation has introduced new challenges\u00a0for waste players, driving industry consolidation over the last six years[3]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In addition to regulation, the waste management industry may be materially affected by extreme weather patterns, which in the past have caused service disruptions due to severe storms and extended periods of inclement weather or climate extremes resulting from climate change.\u00a0 \u201cOne-time\u201d weather-related extremes, given their unpredictability, may result in significant start-up and clean-up costs that hurt profitability, affect logistics operations, and contribute to pollution.<\/p>\n

Waste Management<\/em><\/p>\n

One Company that has been directly affected by the aforementioned regulation and physical manifestation of climate change is Waste Management, Inc<\/strong>.\u00a0 Waste Management (NYSE: WM), based in Houston, Texas, is North America\u2019s leading provider of comprehensive waste management environmental services, offering services to nearly 27 million residential, industrial, municipal and commercial customers in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.\u00a0 As of December 2015, the Company owned or operated 104 materials recovery facilities, 244 solid waste landfills, 5 hazardous waste landfills, and 297 transfer stations[4]<\/a>.\u00a0 In addition, WM operates a collection of 26,000 transfer vehicles, representing the 34th<\/sup> largest trucking fleet in the world (and the largest in the waste management industry)[5]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Climate Change Initiatives<\/em><\/p>\n

In 2008, WM revamped its sustainability initiatives to combat the growing challenges related to climate change and to better cooperate with increasing regulations.\u00a0 First, WM has pushed a successful \u201ccircular economy\u201d initiative, resulting in an 18% reduction in CO2<\/sub> emissions in 2014, and setting a goal to further reduce emissions another 20% by 2020[6]<\/a>.\u00a0 The Company has been able to achieve this by taking discarded materials (metal and paper) and funneling them back into the manufacturing process, rather than mining and extracting resources that contribute to increased emissions and strain demands on natural resources.\u00a0 The optimization of their trucking fleet and the 21 M&A deals closed since 2012 have also played a role in reduced emissions[7]<\/a>.\u00a0 Next, WM has raised the awareness for recycling in the U.S., particularly in recycling paper and plastics.\u00a0 Management now claims plastic makes up a smaller percentage of waste by weight[8]<\/a>.\u00a0 Finally, the Company has been at the forefront of the waste to energy (WTE) movement, arguably one of the most innovative solutions within the environmental services industry.\u00a0 Using landfills, WM is able to produce over 550 megawatts of electricity, which is enough to power more than 440,000 homes. This amount of energy is equivalent to offsetting over 2.2 million tons of coal per year[9]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A Roadmap for the Future <\/em><\/p>\n

While Waste Management has been a leader in sustainability in the environmental services industry, the Company can still do more to address the increasing scarcity of clean water.\u00a0 Climate change and pollution from landfill contamination are contributors to the lack of access to clean water in certain developing countries around the world.\u00a0 We as a society are at risk of the ripple effects related to poor human welfare conditions and deteriorating standards of living, especially as globalization continues.\u00a0 The next step will need to be the intensification of educational programs and company led promotion related to climate change and clean water initiatives that bring sustainability to the forefront of business and political leaders\u2019 minds, an awareness that will hopefully result in responsible business practices in an era of continued growth.<\/p>\n

(782 words)<\/p>\n

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[1]<\/a> Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: Facts and Figures<\/em>.\u00a0 Environmental Protection Agency. 2013 Report.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Environmental Protection Agency website.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Waste Management 2015 Earnings Call.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Waste Management 2015 Annual Report.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Fleet Central Top 100 Fleets Database.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Waste Management 2015 Sustainability Report.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a>\u00a0S&P Capital IQ Database.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Waste Management 2015 Sustainability Report.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Waste Management Website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every year we continue to generate more and more waste that has ripple effects that go well beyond our local communities, increasing the global importance of innovation in the environmental services industry. Now, more than ever, we need to start cleaning up our act.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2651,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[1223,1218,1894,1890,1292,21,1895,1891,1893,185,14,1048,1353,1889,1892],"class_list":["post-12955","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","hentry","category-circular-economy","category-climate-change","category-environmental-protection-agency","category-environmental-services","category-landfills","category-logistics","category-municipal-solid-waste","category-recycle","category-regulatory","category-renewable-energy","category-sustainability","category-tom","category-trucking","category-waste-management","category-waste-to-energy"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/climate-change-challenge-2016\/","yoast_head":"\nWaste Management is Cleaning Up its Act - Technology and Operations Management<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/waste-management-is-cleaning-up-its-act\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Waste Management is Cleaning Up its Act - Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Every year we continue to generate more and more waste that has ripple effects that go well beyond our local communities, increasing the global importance of innovation in the environmental services industry. 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