Houston-based Waste Management Inc. is set to shed 700 jobs in the midst of restructuring the company’s management.
Waste Management says it plans to reduce the number of areas managing core collection, disposal, and recycling from 22 to 17 to sharpen performance in other areas such as customer needs, yield management and operational efficiency.
The company will also remove the entire layer of its management covering the Eastern, Midwest, Southern and Western regions.
The layoffs were announced as the company said its second-quarter profit fell 12 per cent.
While it appears the layoffs will not affect Waste Management's Canadian subsidiary, a spokesperson for the company could not confirm whether this would be the case.
"I can't say for sure. If so, it would be a handful," media relations rep Lynn Brown told Solid Waste and Recycling. "By and large our corporate employees are in Houston."
In another aspect of the restructuring, James Trevathan, Jr., previously executive VP of Growth, Innovation and Field Support, has been appointed executive VP and Chief Operating Officer of Waste Management.
"The steps we are taking to restructure our organization are expected to provide two very important results for us,” David Steiner, president and CEO of Waste Management, announced to media July 26, 2012. “First, the restructuring is expected to reduce our cost structure by about 100 basis points in 2013. This is a good step toward our longer term goal to reduce costs by 200 to 400 basis points. Second, we believe that eliminating a layer of management and restructuring our support staff around our three major initiatives will intensify our focus on achieving those initiatives."
Jeff Harris and John Morris have each been appointed to the role of senior VP of Field Operations.
Waste Management provides collection, transfer, recycling, 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 U.S.
Waste Management of Canada employs 3,400 people at 116 operating locations in 9 provinces, servicing over 4.5 million residential customers and 170,000 industrial and commercial customers. Waste Management of Canada owns and/or operates 20 recycling recovery facilities and 18 landfills.
Waste Management of Canada is a subsidiary of Waste Management Inc., headquartered in Houston, Texas,
CNG EXPANSION
Waste Management Inc. opened 13 compressed natural gas (CNG) stations across the U.S. in 2012, with another 17 on the way, the Houston-based company has announced.
Nine of the facilities, which stretch from Florida to Washington, will have CNG public fueling stations.
"These facilities will serve our rapidly growing CNG powered collection fleet,” said Eric Woods, vice president of fleet and logistics for Waste Management, in a statement to media. “Those facilities with publicly accessible stations offer fueling solutions to other corporate fleets and consumers as more and more North Americans turn to vehicles fueled by CNG.”
Fast-fill capability is installed at the publicly accessible fueling stations. The self-service Clean N’ Green Fuel stations are open 24/7 and accept major credit cards as well as fleet cards.
Waste Management already operates nearly 1,700 CNG vehicles, the largest fleet of CNG recycling and waste collection trucks in North America, the company says.
CNG is one of the cleanest fuels currently available for use in heavy-duty trucks. They also run quieter. By replacing a typical diesel engine with a natural gas engine, it can reduce up to 86 per cent of air particulates 80 percent in carbon monoxide, up to 50 per cent in nitrogen oxides, and 25 per cent in carbon dioxide.
Waste Management clean fuel technology goal is to reduce emissions by 15 per cent and increase the fuel efficiency of its fleet by 15 per cent by 2020.
In 2011, the Clean Vehicle Education Foundation honored WM with its Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV) Achievement award for its “innovative leadership” in the company’s transformation to a natural gas fleet.