Online Diversion and Recycling Tracking Tool Launches

HOUSTON, Nov. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Waste Management has formally launched a Diversion and Recycling Tracking tool (DART) to help project planners, contractors,  architects and building owners measure their green performance during a construction, renovation, and demolition project. The service, which is available across the US and Canada, operates online and is accessible 24-hours a day to monitor C&D recycling, tabulate total diversion rates and provide documentation to support LEED® certification.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090219/WMLOGO)

Today there is an increasing demand for sustainable construction, such as higher reuse and recycling rates. At every construction site, builders have an opportunity to divert a variety of C&D traditional items from the landfill, such as wood, rock, metal, cardboard and plastic. In addition, there may be nontraditional items that can be put to reuse, like shingles, concrete, fiberboard and paneling.

With so many substances to manage, calculating total diversion has traditionally been a time-consuming process, involving extensive labor, math and excel sheets. DART technology was created by Waste Management to:

• Measure recycling and diversion easily
• Set clear benchmarks for companies to exceed on future projects, contributing to sustainable operations long-term
• Allow builders to promote their environmental performance

While DART has been on a soft launch since midyear, it has already had some successes. SpawMaxwell, a Balfour Beatty company with interior construction services across Texas, became the first adopter of the DART tool, using it to track their performance throughout construction of the Choice Energy building in Houston, TX. Through sound logistical planning and tracking, the project reached a diversion rate of more than 90 percent. The DART tool has since been adopted by Balfour Beatty Construction.

"Success is only meaningful if it can be measured," said Jim Halter, vice president of construction solutions for Waste Management. "With the DART tool, contractors and architects can really zero in on what they are diverting and where there is opportunity to improve. We are not just tracking performance for the present, but also setting benchmarks to be surpassed in the future."

Some other features of the DART tool, include:

• Personalized "green facts" that illustrate environmental performance
• Results 24/7 from every project level – individual, company and Metropolitan Statistical Area
• Graphs and charts displaying diversion and recycling rates

For more information about the DART tool, visit www.wm.com/DART.

ABOUT WASTE MANAGEMENT

Waste Management, Inc., based in Houston, Texas, is the leading provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America. Through its subsidiaries, the company provides collection, transfer, recycling and resource recovery, and disposal services. It is also a leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. The company's customers include residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers throughout North America. To learn more information about Waste Management visit www.wm.com or www.thinkgreen.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are information of a non-historical nature or which relate to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties. In many cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," or "continue," or the negative of these terms and other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors. The forward-looking statements made in this press release relate only to events as of the date of this release. We undertake no ongoing obligation to update these statements.

SOURCE Waste Management, Inc.