Waste Management Announces Major Environmental Initiative

Waste Management has announced a new environmental initiative that includes spending up to $500 million over the next 10 years in order to increase the fuel efficiency of its fleet by 15 percent. The firm also is planning a 15 percent reduction of fleet emissions by 2020.

Other plans include:

• Doubling its waste-based energy production to provide energy to more than 2 million homes by 2020.

• More than doubling the amount of recyclables it handles from 8 million tons per year to 20 million tons by 2020.

• Increasing the number of Wildlife Habitat Council-certified facilities from 24 to 100 and increasing the number of acres set aside for conservation and wildlife habitat to nearly 25,000 acres.

David P. Steiner, CEO of Waste Management, will announce the initiative today at a luncheon during the World Business Forum in New York. His 12:45 p.m. announcement will be available via a live webcast at www.mn.com/wbf/.