Waste Management Inc. is looking at ways to turn trash into energy, which is the next best thing to actual treasure.
“In my mind, it’s pretty simple why we’re doing it: If we don’t figure it out, somebody is, and they’ll take the waste away from us. If we lose the waste, we’ve certainly lost the business,” said Carl Rush, vice president of the company’s organic growth group, the chief vehicle for its energy investments.
The shift in thinking comes at a time when U.S. landfill collections are hitting a plateau as Americans recycle more, consumer products makers reduce packaging and many large corporations adopt “zero waste” goals.
Demand for renewable energy and fuels also is increasing, in response both to regulations requiring them and to public concerns about the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels and their environmental impact.
The confluence of trends has pushed Waste Management’s leaders to take a hard look at where the company is headed, and has brought a slow and sometimes reluctant culture change to a business that had been set in its ways.
“Five years ago it would have been, ‘just put it in a hole and don’t worry about it,’ ” Rush said. Today, company officials try to avoid even using the term trash. Instead, it’s “materials” or “resources,” he said.
“It’s remarkable to me to see the change that’s taken place just in the mind-set of the people in this company.”
It’s amazing what a change in market conditions can do. Part of the issue is that there are fewer and fewer places to add landfill space that don’t run into stiff opposition from the locals, part of it is as mentioned the push everywhere to cut down on the amount of solid waste that gets generated. When faced with a declining revenue stream from an existing product line, what else is there to do but look for new ways to monetize assets? I commend Waste Management for seeking innovative solutions rather than trying to change the politics of it.