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Presenting our 2020 GRI Sustainability Report

Presenting our 2020 GRI Sustainability Report

The WM New Zealand team is proud to launch our second Sustainability Report, meeting the standard of GRI (Global Reporting Initiative).

It presents our sustainability progress during 2020, as well as our COVID-19 response, across five key areas - Our Environment, Our Communities, Our Customers, Our People and Our Business.

In 2020 we were able to reduce our operational greenhouse gas emissions by 10.6%, in part because of COVID-19 restrictions, and we developed monthly carbon footprint reporting for over 60 of our sites. This site reporting has allowed us to take ownership and understanding of emissions further into our organisation.

The report also highlights what we see as future challenges for the waste industry as we move towards a future low carbon world supported by a circular economy.

Some key facts from 2020:

  • We collected 1.08 million tonnes of waste, including 87,000 tonnes of recycling
  • 33% of plastics collected and processed were sold within New Zealand
  • 10,000 tonnes of tyres were recycled into alternative fuel
  • 124,000 tonnes of food and garden waste was turned into compost
  • Our landfills captured 95% of methane gas and converted it to energy sufficient to power 24,000 homes
  • 16 electric trucks in our fleet
  • 32% of our light fleet is plug-in electric
  • 58,000 tCO2e operational emissions, a 7% reduction from our base year 2017

Click here to read Waste Management’s 2020 GRI Sustainability Report.

Thanks to the wider WM New Zealand team, our customers, suppliers and sustainability partners for the part you have all played in our sustainability journey.