Waste Management Announces The SmartEnergy(SM) Compactor

HOUSTON, June 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) today announced the new SmartEnergy(SM) Compactor which could reduce electricity consumption by as much as 70 percent versus traditional compactors, resulting in lower operating costs and a lower carbon footprint for customers. The SmartEnergy Compactor is the latest innovative technology from North America's leading environmental solutions company, helping businesses meet their sustainability goals. This new solution enables WM to know its customers better and service them more efficiently than ever before.

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

Each SmartEnergy compactor comes equipped with WM's Compactor Monitoring Service (CMS). This technology enables WM to optimize the servicing of customers' compactors, eliminating the costs and inconvenience of unnecessary pickups while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Waste Management specialists monitor customer compactors remotely and use proprietary hardware and software to maximize the efficiency and value of each collection. This service also removes the burden of monitoring compactors from customers, allowing them to concentrate on running their businesses.

Another energy-saving feature of the SmartEnergy Compactor is the chargebox fullness indicator, which encourages users to run cycles only when needed, thereby reducing their electricity usage and carbon footprint.  In addition to these energy-saving features, the new solution provides compaction performance and cycle times equal to traditional compactors.

The SmartEnergy compactor's electronic controls are powered with solar energy provided by Big Belly Solar^™, while the compactor motor is traditionally powered.  Furthermore, the SmartEnergy Compactor is equipped with constant AC-powered backup so that if the battery doesn't have the maximum solar charge, customers can always run a cycle while the battery recovers.

"The new SmartEnergy Compactor is a big win for both our customers and Waste Management," said Rick Cochrane, senior business director at WM. "Our customers are now able to operate in a more environmentally friendly manner while saving costs and improving their bottom line. In turn, Waste Management can continue to service customers better than anyone else in the industry while remaining good environmental stewards. The SmartEnergy Compactor can be a clear statement by our customers to their stakeholders that, as a business, they are commitment to sustainability."

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 the largest residential recycler and 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.