Waste Management 10-K 2021-12-31

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UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

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Form 10-K

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(Mark One)

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☑ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

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For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021

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OR

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☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

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For the transition period from to

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Commission file number 1-12154

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Waste Management, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

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Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:

(713) 512-6200

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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

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Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined by Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☑ No ◻

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Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ◻ No ☑

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☑ No ◻

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulations S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes ☑ No ◻

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

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If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ◻

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☑

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☑

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The aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 30, 2021 was approximately $58.9 billion. The aggregate market value was computed by using the closing price of the common stock as of that date on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”). (For purposes of calculating this amount only, all directors and executive officers of the registrant have been treated as affiliates.)

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The number of shares of Common Stock, $0.01 par value, of the registrant outstanding as of February 9, 2022 was 414,586,718 (excluding treasury shares of 215,695,743).

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DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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PART I

General

Waste Management, Inc. is a holding company and all operations are conducted by its subsidiaries. When the terms “the Company,” “we,” “us” or “our” are used in this document, those terms refer to Waste Management, Inc., its consolidated subsidiaries and consolidated variable interest entities. When we use the term “WMI,” we are referring only to Waste Management, Inc., the parent holding company.

WMI was incorporated in Oklahoma in 1987 under the name “USA Waste Services, Inc.” and was reincorporated as a Delaware company in 1995. In a 1998 merger, the Illinois-based waste services company formerly known as Waste Management, Inc. became a wholly-owned subsidiary of WMI and changed its name to Waste Management Holdings, Inc. (“WM Holdings”). At the same time, our parent holding company changed its name from USA Waste Services to Waste Management, Inc. Like WMI, WM Holdings is a holding company and all operations are conducted by subsidiaries.

Our principal executive offices are located at 800 Capitol Street, Suite 3000, Houston, Texas 77002. Our telephone number is (713) 512-6200. Our website address is www.wm.com. Our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K are all available, free of charge, on our website as soon as practicable after we file the reports with the SEC. Our stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “WM.”

We are North America’s leading provider of comprehensive waste management environmental services, providing services throughout the United States (“U.S.”) and Canada. We partner with our residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers and the communities we serve to manage and reduce waste at each stage from collection to disposal, while recovering valuable resources and creating clean, renewable energy. Our “Solid Waste” business is operated and managed locally by our subsidiaries that focus on distinct geographic areas and provide collection, transfer, disposal, and recycling and resource recovery services. Through our subsidiaries, we are also a leading developer, operator and owner of landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the U.S. During 2021, our largest customer represented less than 5% of annual revenues. We employed approximately 48,500 people as of December 31, 2021.

We own or operate 260 landfill sites, which is the largest network of landfills throughout the U.S. and Canada. In order to make disposal more practical for larger urban markets, where the distance to landfills is typically farther, we manage 340 transfer stations that consolidate, compact and transport waste efficiently and economically. We also use waste to create energy, recovering the gas produced naturally as waste decomposes in landfills and using the gas in generators to make electricity. We are a leading recycler in the U.S. and Canada, handling materials that include cardboard, paper, glass, plastic and metal. We provide cost-efficient, environmentally sound recycling programs for municipalities, businesses and households across the U.S. and Canada as well as other services that supplement our Solid Waste business.

Our Company’s goals are targeted at putting our people first, positioning them to serve and care for our customers, the environment, the communities in which we work and our stockholders. Increasingly, our industry-leading focus on environmental sustainability aligns with demand from our customers who want more of their waste materials recovered. Waste streams are becoming more complex, and our aim is to address current needs, while anticipating the expanding and evolving needs of our customers.

We believe we are uniquely equipped to meet the challenges of the changing waste industry and our customers’ waste management needs, both today and as we work together to envision and create a more sustainable future. As the waste industry leader, we have the expertise necessary to collect and handle our customers’ waste efficiently and responsibly by delivering environmental performance — maximizing resource value, while minimizing environmental impact — so that both our economy and our environment can thrive.

Our fundamental strategy has not changed; we remain dedicated to providing long-term value to our stockholders by successfully executing our core strategy of focused differentiation and continuous improvement. As North America’s

leading provider of comprehensive waste management environmental services, sustainability and environmental stewardship is embedded in all that we do. We have enabled a people-first, technology-led focus to drive our mission, that we are always working for a sustainable tomorrow. Our strategy leverages and sustains the strongest asset network in the industry to drive best in class customer experience and growth. Our strategic planning processes appropriately consider that the future of our business and the industry can be influenced by changes in economic conditions, the competitive landscape, the regulatory environment, asset and resource availability and technology. We believe that focused differentiation, which is driven by capitalizing on our unique and extensive network of assets, will deliver profitable growth and position us to leverage competitive advantages. Simultaneously, we believe the combination of cost control, enhancements to our digital platform, process improvement and operational efficiency will deliver on the Company’s strategy of continuous improvement and yield an attractive total cost structure and enhanced service quality. While we continue to improve existing diversion technologies, such as through investments in our recycling operations, we are also evaluating and pursuing emerging diversion technologies that may generate additional value.

We believe that execution of our strategy will deliver shareholder value and leadership in a dynamic industry and challenging economic environment. In addition, we intend to continue to return value to our stockholders through dividend payments and our common stock repurchase program. In December 2021, we announced that our Board of Directors expects to increase the quarterly dividend from $0.575 to $0.65 per share for dividends declared in 2022, which is a 13.0% increase from the quarterly dividends we declared in 2021. This is an indication of our ability to generate strong and consistent cash flows and marks the 19th consecutive year of dividend increases. All quarterly dividends will be declared at the discretion of our Board of Directors and depend on various factors, including our net earnings, financial condition, cash required for future business plans, growth and acquisitions and other factors the Board of Directors may deem relevant.

Operations

General

In 2021, our senior management began evaluating, overseeing and managing the financial performance of our Solid Waste operations through two operating segments. Our East Tier primarily consists of geographic areas located in the Eastern U.S., the Great Lakes region and substantially all of Canada. Our West Tier primarily includes geographic areas located in the Western U.S., including the upper Midwest region, and British Columbia, Canada. Each of our Solid Waste operating segments provides integrated environmental services, including collection, transfer, recycling, and disposal. The Company finalized the assessment of our segments during the fourth quarter of 2021. The East and West Tiers are presented in this report and constitute our existing Solid Waste business. On October 30, 2020, we acquired Advanced Disposal Services, Inc. (“Advanced Disposal”), the operations of which are presented in this report within our existing Solid Waste tiers. Additional information related to our acquisition of Advanced Disposal and segments is included in Notes 17 and 19 to the Consolidated Financial Statements, respectively. We also provide expanded service offerings and solutions that are not managed through

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In an effort to keep our stockholders and the public informed about our business, we may make “forward-looking statements.” Forward-looking statements are often identified by the words, “will,” “may,” “should,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “expect,” “plan,” “forecast,” “project,” “estimate,” “intend” and words of a similar nature and generally include statements regarding:

You should view these statements with caution. These statements are not guarantees of future performance, circumstances or events. They are based on facts and circumstances known to us as of the date the statements are made. The following discussion should be read together with the Consolidated Financial Statements and the notes thereto. Outlined below are some of the risks that we believe could affect our business and financial statements for 2022 and beyond and could cause actual results to be materially different from those set forth in forward-looking statements made by the Company. In addition to the following risks, there may be additional risks and uncertainties that adversely affect our business, performance, or financial condition in the future that are not presently known or are not currently believed to be material. The Company continues to be optimistic about volume recovery and overall economic recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, uncertainty remains with respect to various factors that influence the pace of economic recovery, including the risks discussed below and the potential for future resurgence in transmission of COVID-19 and related business closures due to virus variants or otherwise. Such conditions could have an unanticipated adverse impact on our business. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of future events, circumstances or developments or otherwise.

Strategy and Operational Risks

If we fail to implement our business strategy, our financial performance and our growth could be materially and adversely affected.

Our future financial performance and success are dependent in large part upon our ability to implement our business strategy successfully. Implementation of our strategy will require effective management of our operational, financial and human resources and will place significant demands on those resources. See Item 1. Business for more information on our business strategy.

There are risks involved in pursuing our strategy, including the following:

In addition to the risks set forth above, implementation of our business strategy could also be affected by other factors beyond our control, such as increased competition, legal developments, government regulation, general economic conditions, increased operating costs or expenses, subcontractor costs and availability and changes in industry trends. We may decide to alter or discontinue certain aspects of our business strategy at any time. If we are not able to implement our business strategy successfully, our long-term growth and profitability may be adversely affected. Even if we are able to implement some or all of the initiatives of our business strategy successfully, our operating results may not improve to the extent we anticipate, or at all.

Our operations must comply with extensive existing regulations, and changes in regulations and/or enforcement of regulations can restrict or alter our operations, increase our operating costs, increase our tax rate, or require us to make additional capital expenditures.

Stringent government regulations at the federal, state, provincial and local level in the U.S. and Canada have a substantial impact on our operations, and compliance with such regulations is costly. Many complex laws, rules, orders and interpretations govern environmental protection, health, safety, land use, zoning, transportation and related matters. Among other things, governmental regulations and enforcement actions restrict our operations at times and may adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows by imposing conditions such as:

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None.

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Our principal executive offices are in Houston, Texas where we lease approximately 297,000 square feet under a lease expiring in 2035. We also have administrative offices in Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois and India. We own or lease real property in most locations where we have operations or administrative functions. We have operations in all 50 states except Montana, the District of Columbia and throughout Canada.

Our principal property and equipment consist of land (primarily landfills and other disposal facilities, transfer stations and bases for collection operations), buildings, vehicles and equipment. We believe that our operating properties, vehicles and equipment are adequately maintained and sufficient for our current operations. However, we expect to continue to make investments in additional property and equipment for expansion, for the replacement of aging assets and investment in assets that support our strategy of continuous improvement through efficiency and innovation. For more information, see Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations included within this report.

The following table summarizes our various operations as of December 31:

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Information regarding our legal proceedings can be found under the Environmental Matters and Litigation sections of Note 10 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included within this report.

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Information concerning mine safety and other regulatory matters required by Section 1503(a) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and Item 104 of Regulation S-K is included in Exhibit 95 to this annual report.

PART II

Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol “WM.” The number of holders of record of our common stock on February 9, 2022 was 8,099.

The graph below shows the relative investment performance of Waste Management, Inc. common stock, the S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones Waste & Disposal Services Index for the last five years, assuming reinvestment of dividends at date of payment into the common stock. The graph is presented pursuant to SEC rules and is not meant to be an indication of our future performance.

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The Company repurchases shares of its common stock as part of capital allocation programs authorized by our Board of Directors. During 2021, we allocated an aggregate of $1.35 billion in cash under our accelerated share repurchase (“ASR”) agreements. As of December 31, 2021, we had received 8.7 million shares with a weighted average price per share of $146.61. In January 2022, we completed our ASR agreement executed in December 2021, at which time we received an additional 0.4 million shares. See Note 13 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.

The following table summarizes common stock repurchases made during the fourth quarter of 2021 (shares in millions):

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

In December 2021, we executed an ASR agreement to repurchase $350 million of our common stock. At the beginning of the repurchase period, we delivered $350 million in cash and received 1.7 million shares based on a stock price of $160.67. The ASR agreement completed in January 2022, at which time we received 0.4 million additional shares based on a final weighted average price of $160.33.

The “Average Price Paid per Share” in the table represents the final weighted average price per share paid for the ASR agreement executed in August 2021 and the initial price per share paid for the ASR agreement executed in December 2021.

Any future share repurchases will be made at the discretion of management and will depend on various factors including our net earnings, financial condition and cash required for future business plans, growth and acquisitions.

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None.

This section includes a discussion of our results of operations for the three years ended December 31, 2021. This discussion may contain forward-looking statements that anticipate results based on management’s plans that are subject to uncertainty. We discuss in more detail various factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations in Item 1A. Risk Factors. The following discussion should be read considering those disclosures and together with the Consolidated Financial Statements and the notes thereto.

Overview

We are North America’s leading provider of comprehensive waste management environmental services, providing services throughout the United States (“U.S.”) and Canada. We partner with our residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers and the communities we serve to manage and reduce waste at each stage from collection to disposal, while recovering valuable resources and creating clean, renewable energy. We own or operate the largest network of landfills throughout the U.S. and Canada. In order to make disposal more practical for larger urban markets, where the distance to landfills is typically farther, we manage transfer stations that consolidate, compact and transport waste efficiently and economically. We also use waste to create energy, recovering the gas produced naturally as waste

decomposes in landfills and using the gas in generators to make electricity or natural gas. Additionally, we are a leading recycler in the U.S. and Canada, handling materials that include paper, cardboard, glass, plastic and metal. Our “Solid Waste” business is operated and managed locally by our subsidiaries that focus on distinct geographic areas and provide collection, transfer, disposal, and recycling and resource recovery services. Consistent with our Company’s long-standing commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship, we published our 2021 Sustainability Report, which details our people-first commitment to help make the communities in which we live and work safe, resilient and sustainable. The information in this report can be found at https://sustainability.wm.com but it does not constitute a part of, and is not incorporated by reference into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K. For further discussion see section “Regulation – Emerging Trends in Policy and Regulation – Climate and Sustainability” in Item 1.

In 2021, our senior management began evaluating, overseeing and managing the financial performance of our Solid Waste operations through two operating segments. Our East Tier primarily consists of geographic areas located in the Eastern U.S., the Great Lakes region and substantially all of Canada. Our West Tier primarily includes geographic areas located in the Western U.S., including the upper Midwest region, and British Columbia, Canada. Each of our Solid Waste operating segments provides integrated environmental services, including collection, transfer, recycling, and disposal. The Company finalized the assessment of our segments during the fourth quarter of 2021. The East and West Tiers are presented in this report and constitute our existing Solid Waste business.

Our Solid Waste operating revenues are primarily generated from fees charged for our collection, transfer, disposal, and recycling and resource recovery services, and from sales of commodities by our recycling and landfill gas-to-energy operations. Revenues from our collection operations are influenced by factors such as collection frequency, type of collection equipment furnished, type and volume or weight of the waste collected, distance to the disposal facility or material recovery facility and our disposal costs. Revenues from our landfill operations consist of tipping fees, which are generally based on the type and weight or volume of waste being disposed of at our disposal facilities. Fees charged at transfer stations are generally based on the weight or volume of waste deposited, taking into account our cost of loading, transporting and disposing of the solid waste at a disposal site. Recycling revenues generally consist of tipping fees and the sale of recycling commodities to third parties. The fees we charge for our services generally include our environmental, fuel surcharge and regulatory recovery fees which are intended to pass through to customers direct and indirect costs incurred. We also provide additional services that are not managed through our Solid Waste business, described under Results of Operations below.

Acquisition of Advanced Disposal Services, Inc. (“Advanced Disposal”)

On October 30, 2020, we completed our acquisition of all outstanding shares of Advanced Disposal for $30.30 per share in cash, pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger dated April 14, 2019, as amended on June 24, 2020. Total enterprise value of the acquisition was $4.6 billion when including approximately $1.8 billion of Advanced Disposal’s net debt. This acquisition grew our footprint and allows us to provide differentiated, sustainable waste management and recycling services to approximately three million new commercial, industrial and residential customers primarily located in the Eastern half of the U.S. The acquisition was funded using a $3.0 billion, 364-day, U.S. revolving credit facility (“364-day revolving credit facility”) and our commercial paper program. In November 2020, we issued $2.5 billion of senior notes and used a portion of the proceeds to repay all outstanding borrowings under the 364-day revolving credit facility at which time it was terminated. As a result of the acquisition we recorded $4.1 billion of net assets including $2.5 billion of goodwill as of December 31, 2020. Post-closing adjustments to our purchase price allocation were not material.

In connection with our acquisition of Advanced Disposal, we and Advanced Disposal entered into an agreement that provided for GFL Environmental to acquire a combination of assets from us and Advanced Disposal to address divestitures required by the U.S. Department of Justice. Immediately following the acquisition, the divestiture transactions were consummated and the Company subsequently received cash proceeds from the sale of $856 million.

See Note 11 and 17 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for more information.

For the year ended December 31, 2021, we incurred $51 million of integration related costs, and for the year ended December 31, 2020, we incurred $156 million of acquisition and integration related costs, which were primarily classified as “Selling, general and administrative expenses”. The post-closing operating results of Advanced Disposal have been included in our consolidated financial statements, within our existing reportable segments. Post-closing through December 31, 2020, Advanced Disposal recognized $205 million, $142 million and $60 million of revenue, operating expenses and selling, general and administrative expenses, respectively, which are included in our Consolidated Statement of Operations. During 2021, we made significant progress on our integration of Advanced Disposal. The focus of these efforts has been to ensure that we continue to provide uninterrupted service to our customers through the integration of certain customer facing and back office digital platforms.

COVID-19 Update

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company has proactively taken steps to put our employees’ and customers’ needs first and we continue to work with the appropriate regulatory agencies to ensure we can provide our essential services safely and efficiently. We continue to operate with a focus on protecting the health and safety of our employees and maintaining business continuity for our customers. These efforts, combined with our disciplined execution in our daily operations, have positioned the Company to prudently manage the challenges presented by COVID-19.

The impacts of COVID-19 on the global economy increased rapidly duri

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In the normal course of business, we are exposed to market risks, including changes in interest rates, certain commodity prices and Canadian currency rates. From time to time, we use derivatives to manage some portion of these risks. The Company had no derivatives outstanding as of December 31, 2021.

Interest Rate Exposure — Our exposure to market risk for changes in interest rates relates primarily to our financing activities. As of December 31, 2021, we had $13.5 billion of long-term debt, excluding the impacts of accounting for debt issuance costs, discounts and fair value adjustments attributable to terminated interest rate derivatives. We have $2.5 billion of debt that is exposed to changes in market interest rates within the next 12 months comprised of (i) $1.8 billion of short-term borrowings under our commercial paper program; (ii) $645 billion of tax-exempt bonds with term interest rate periods that expire within the next 12 months and (iii) $54 million of variable-rate tax-exempt bonds that are subject to repricing on a weekly basis. We currently estimate that a 100-basis point increase in the interest rates of our outstanding variable-rate debt obligations would increase our 2022 interest expense by $7 million.

Our remaining outstanding debt obligations have fixed interest rates through either the scheduled maturity of the debt or, for certain of our fixed-rate tax-exempt bonds, through the end of a term interest rate period that exceeds 12 months. The fair value of our fixed-rate debt obligations can increase or decrease significantly if market interest rates change.

We performed a sensitivity analysis to determine how market rate changes might affect the fair value of our market risk-sensitive debt instruments. This analysis is inherently limited because it reflects a singular, hypothetical set of assumptions. Actual market movements may vary significantly from our assumptions. An instantaneous, 100-basis point increase in interest rates across all maturities attributable to these instruments would have decreased the fair value of our debt by approximately $900 million as of December 31, 2021.

We are also exposed to interest rate market risk from our cash and cash equivalent balances, as well as assets held in restricted trust funds and escrow accounts. These assets are generally invested in high-quality, liquid instruments including money market funds that invest in U.S. government obligations with original maturities of three months or less. We believe that our exposure to changes in fair value of these assets due to interest rate fluctuations is insignificant as the fair value generally approximates our cost basis. We also invest a portion of our restricted trust and escrow account balances in available-for-sale securities, including U.S. Treasury securities, U.S. agency securities, municipal securities, mortgage- and asset-backed securities, which generally mature over the next nine years, as well as equity securities.

Commodity Price Exposure — In the normal course of our business, we are subject to operating agreements that expose us to market risks arising from changes in the prices for commodities such as diesel fuel, electricity and recycled materials, including old corrugated cardboard and plastics. We work to manage these risks through operational strategies that focus on capturing our costs in the prices we charge our customers for the services provided. Accordingly, as the market prices for these commodities increase or decrease, our revenues, operating costs and margins may also increase or decrease. As discussed in Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, we saw significant increases in commodity prices and demand for recycled materials in 2021, resulting in increased annual revenue for our recycling business of $537 million. Variability in commodity prices can also impact the margins of our business as certain components of our revenue are structured as a pass through of costs, including recycling brokerage and fuel surcharges.

Currency Rate Exposure — We have operations in Canada as well as certain support functions in India. Where significant, we have quantified and described the impact of foreign currency translation on components of income, including operating revenue and operating expenses. However, the impact of foreign currency has not materially affected our results of operations.

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INDEX TO

CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of Waste Management, Inc.

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Opinion on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

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We have audited Waste Management, Inc.’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021, based on criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework) (the COSO criteria). In our opinion, Waste Management, Inc. (the Company) maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021, based on the COSO criteria.

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We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the 2021 consolidated financial statements of the Company, and our report dated February 15, 2022 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.

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Basis for Opinion

The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

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We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.

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Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

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Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

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Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of Waste Management, Inc.

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Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Waste Management, Inc. (the Company) as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income, cash flows, and changes in equity for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2021, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company at December 31, 2021 and 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2021, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

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We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021, based on criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework), and our report dated February 15, 2022 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.

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Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

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We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

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Critical Audit Matters

The critical audit matters communicated below are matters arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial stat

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None.

Effectiveness of Controls and Procedures

Our management, with the participation of our principal executive and financial officers, has evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) in ensuring that the information required to be disclosed in reports that we file or submit under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, including ensuring that such information is accumulated and communicated to management (including the principal executive and financial officers) as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Based on such evaluation, our principal executive and financial officers have concluded that such disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of December 31, 2021 (the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K) at a reasonable assurance level.

Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Management of the Company, including the principal executive and financial officers, is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Our management conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting based on the 2013 framework in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (the COSO criteria). Our internal controls are designed to provide reasonable assurance as to the reliability of our financial reporting and the preparation of the consolidated financial statements for external purposes in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States and includes those policies and procedures that:

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

The effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting has been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, the independent registered public accounting firm that audited our consolidated financial statements, as stated in their report, which is included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the quarter ended December 31, 2021 that materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

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None.

PART III

The information required by this Item is incorporated by reference to the sections entitled “Board of Directors” and “Executive Officers” in the Company’s definitive Proxy Statement for its 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the “Proxy Statement”), to be held May 10, 2022. The Proxy Statement will be filed with the SEC within 120 days of the end of our fiscal year.

We have adopted a code of ethics that applies to our CEO, CFO and Chief Accounting Officer, as well as other officers, directors and employees of the Company. The code of ethics, entitled “Code of Conduct,” is posted on our website at www.wm.com in the section “ESG — Corporate Governance” on the “Investors” page.

The information required by this Item is incorporated herein by reference to the sections entitled “Board of Directors — Compensation Committee Report,” “— Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation,” “— Non-Employee Director Compensation,” “Executive Compensation — Compensation Discussion and Analysis” and “— Executive Compensation Tables” in the Proxy Statement.

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The information required by this Item is incorporated herein by reference to the sections entitled “Executive Compensation — Executive Compensation Tables — Equity Compensation Plan Table,” “Director and Officer Stock Ownership,” and “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners” in the Proxy Statement.

The information required by this Item is incorporated herein by reference to the sections entitled “Board of Directors — Related Party Transactions” and “— Independence of Board Members” in the Proxy Statement.

The information required by this Item is incorporated herein by reference to the section entitled “Ratification of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm — Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm Fee Information” in the Proxy Statement.

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PART IV

(a) (1) Consolidated Financial Statements:

Reports of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2021 and 2020

Consolidated Statements of Operations for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019

Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019

Consolidated Statements of Changes in Equity for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

(a) (2) Consolidated Financial Statement Schedules:

All schedules have been omitted because the required information is not significant or is included in the financial statements or notes thereto, or is not applicable.

(a) (3) Exhibits:

• Filed herewith.

** Furnished herewith.

† Denotes management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.

None.

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this Report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

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Date: February 15, 2022

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

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