Chicago Climate Exchange Formed to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Houston, TX - Waste Management Inc. announced that it is one of 14 companies to join the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) as a founding member. CCX is a non-governmental entity established to develop a voluntary marketplace for reducing and trading greenhouse gas emissions.

"For more than 15 years, Waste Management has combined state-of-the-art technology with environmental and operational expertise to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our landfills," said A. Maurice Myers, chairman, president and CEO of Waste Management Inc. "We are pleased to be part of a group that is dedicated to finding innovative ways to address climate change issues."

Waste Management became one of the original design phase members of CCX in 2001. As a founding member, Waste Management has made a commitment to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases by four percent below the average of its 1998-2001 baseline by 2006, the last year of the pilot program. Waste Management also will be able to receive credit for its reductions and to buy and sell credits in order to find the most cost-effective way of achieving reductions.

Waste Management generates significant amounts of greenhouse gas credits through the operation of its landfill gas collection and control systems, its landfill gas beneficial use projects, and its waste-to-energy business, Wheelabrator Technologies Inc.

Waste Management, over the last 15 years, has been developing landfill gas-to-energy projects. The gas, which would otherwise be wasted, is a readily available, renewable energy source that can be gathered and used directly as medium BTU gas for industrial use or sold to gas-to-energy plants to fuel engine generators that, in turn, generate electricity.

Waste Management's waste-to-energy business, Wheelabrator Technologies Inc., uses trash as fuel to produce energy at its 16 waste-to-energy facilities across the U.S. of renewable electric energy per hour.