Waste Management 10-Q 2025-09-30

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UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

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Form 10-Q

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(Mark One)

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Waste Management, Inc**.**

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

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800 Capitol Street

Suite 3000

Houston**,** Texas 77002

(Address of principal executive offices)

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(713) 512-6200

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

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

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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 Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit 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 is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☑

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The number of shares of Common Stock, $0.01 par value, of the registrant outstanding at October 24, 2025 was 402,867,051 (excluding treasury shares of 227,415,410).

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PART I.

WASTE MANAGEMENT, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(In Millions, Except Share and Par Value Amounts)

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See Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

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WASTE MANAGEMENT, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(In Millions, Except per Share Amounts)

(Unaudited)

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CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

(In Millions)

(Unaudited)

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See Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

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WASTE MANAGEMENT, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(In Millions)

(Unaudited)

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The following discussion should be read in conjunction with the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and notes thereto included under Item 1 and our Consolidated Financial Statements and notes thereto and related Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024.

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This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains certain forward-looking statements that are made subject to the safe harbor protections provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. 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 include estimates or projections of financial and other data; comments on expectations relating to future periods; plans or objectives for the future; and statements of opinions, views or beliefs about current and future events, circumstances or performance. You should view these statements with caution. They are based on the facts and circumstances known to us as of the date the statements are made. These forward looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from those set forth in such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to failure to implement our optimization, automation, growth and cost savings initiatives and overall business strategy; failure to obtain the results anticipated from strategic initiatives, investments, acquisitions or new lines of business; failure to identify acquisition targets, consummate and integrate acquisitions, including our ability to integrate the acquisition of Stericycle and achieve the anticipated benefits therefrom, including synergies; legal, regulatory, operational, technological and other matters that may affect the costs and timing of our ability to integrate and deliver all of the expected benefits of the Stericycle acquisition; failure to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting; existing or new environmental and other regulations, including developments related to emerging contaminants, gas emissions, renewable energy, recyclables, extended producer responsibility and our natural gas fleet; significant environmental, safety or other incidents resulting in liabilities or brand damage; failure to obtain and maintain necessary permits due to land scarcity, public opposition or otherwise; diminishing landfill capacity, resulting in increased costs and the need for disposal alternatives; exposure to different regulatory, legal, financial and economic conditions in international jurisdictions; failure to attract, hire and retain key team members and a high quality workforce; increases in labor costs due to union organizing activities or changes in wage and labor related regulations; disruption and costs resulting from severe weather and destructive climate events; failure to achieve our sustainability goals or execute on our sustainability-related strategy and initiatives, including within planned timelines or anticipated budgets due to disruptions, delays, cost increases or changes in environmental or tax regulations and incentives; focus on and regulation of, environmental and sustainability-related disclosures, which could lead to increased costs, risk of non-compliance, brand damage and litigation risk related to our sustainability efforts; macroeconomic conditions, geopolitical conflict and large-scale market disruption resulting in labor, supply chain and transportation constraints, inflationary cost pressures and fluctuations in commodity prices, fuel and other energy costs; increased competition; pricing actions; impacts from international trade restrictions and tariffs; competitive disposal alternatives, diversion of waste from landfills and declining waste volumes; changing conditions in the healthcare industry; changing conditions in the recycling industry, including impacts on demand, pricing and availability of counterparties; weakness in general economic conditions and capital markets; instability of financial institutions; adoption of new tax legislation; fuel shortages; failure to develop and protect new technology; failure of technology to perform as expected; failure to prevent, detect and address cybersecurity incidents or comply with privacy regulations; inability to adapt and manage the benefits and risks of artificial intelligence; negative outcomes of litigation or governmental proceedings, including those acquired through transactions; and operational or management decisions or developments that result in impairment charges and other risks discussed in our filings with the SEC, including Part I, Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, including financial estimates and forecasts, whether as a result of future events, circumstances or developments or otherwise.

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Overview

We are North America’s leading provider of comprehensive environmental solutions, providing services throughout the United States (“U.S.”) and Canada. We partner with our 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. Our solid waste business is operated and managed locally by our subsidiaries that focus on distinct geographic areas and provide collection, transfer, disposal, recycling and resource recovery services. Through our subsidiaries, including our Waste Management Renewable Energy (“WM Renewable Energy”) segment, we are also a leading developer, operator and owner of landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the U.S. and Canada that produce renewable electricity and renewable natural gas (“RNG”), which is a significant source of fuel that we allocate to our natural gas fleet. Additionally, we are a leading recycler in the U.S. and Canada, handling materials that include paper, cardboard, glass, plastic and metal.

Our senior management evaluates, oversees and manages the financial performance of our business through five reportable segments, referred to as (i) Collection and Disposal - East Tier (“East Tier”); (ii) Collection and Disposal - West Tier (“West Tier”); (iii) Recycling Processing and Sales; (iv) WM Renewable Energy and (v) WM Healthcare Solutions. Our East and West Tiers, along with certain ancillary services (“Other Ancillary”) that are not managed through our Tier segments, but that support our collection and disposal operations, form our “Collection and Disposal” businesses. We also provide additional services not managed through our five reportable segments, which are presented as Corporate and Other.

Stericycle Acquisition

On November 4, 2024, we completed our acquisition of all outstanding shares of Stericycle, Inc., a provider of regulated waste and compliance services and secure information destruction services that protect people and brands, promote health and well-being and safeguard the environment. The post-closing operating results of Stericycle have been included in our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements as a new reportable segment referred to as WM Healthcare Solutions. Since closing the acquisition we have prioritized service delivery for our customers and the integration of operations into WM’s organizational structure, ensuring business alignment with WM’s core values and capturing synergies through reduction of d

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Information about market risks as of September 30, 2025 does not materially differ from that discussed under Item 7A in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024.

Effectiveness of Disclosure 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 (the “Exchange Act”)) in ensuring that the information required to be disclosed in reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act 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 September 30, 2025 (the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q) at a reasonable assurance level.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Management, together with our CEO and CFO, evaluated the changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the quarter ended September 30, 2025. We determined that there were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the quarter ended September 30, 2025 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

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PART II.

Item 1. Legal Proceedings.

Information regarding our legal proceedings can be found under the Environmental Matters and Litigation sections of Note 6 to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

There have been no material changes to the risk factors previously disclosed in Part I, Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024.

Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds.

None.

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Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities.

None.

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Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.

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 quarterly report.

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Securities Trading Plans of Directors and Executive Officers

On August 11, 2025, James C. Fish, Jr., Chief Executive Officer and member of our Board of Directors, adopted a stock trading plan (the “Fish Plan”) intended to satisfy the affirmative defense of Rule 10b5-1(c) under the Exchange Act. The Fish Plan will commence on February 2, 2026, and will automatically terminate on the earlier of June 30, 2026, and the completion of all the contemplated transactions set forth therein. The Fish plan provides for the potential sale of all net after-tax shares of our common stock received from the payout of performance share unit (“PSU”) equity compensation awards for the performance period ended December 31, 2025, upon our common stock reaching specified market prices. Mr. Fish received a target grant of 51,316 PSU awards with a performance period ended December 31, 2025; the number of shares to be paid out to Mr. Fish on account of these PSU awards can range from zero to 200% of the initial target grant. As a result, the number of shares of common stock to potentially be sold pursuant to the Fish Plan will be determined in the first quarter of 2026 based on certification by the Management Development and Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors of the Company’s achievement relative to applicable performance measures for the underlying PSU awards.

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• Filed herewith.

** Furnished herewith.

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements 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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