WM acquires stake in China’s waste-to-energy market

Waste Management (WM) and Shanghai Chengtou Holding (SC Holding) announced the signing of an agreement for WM to purchase 40 percent of Shanghai Environment Group (SEG), a provider of environmental services in China, from SC Holding.

Earlier this year SC Holding announced its intent to seek a foreign joint venture partner in SEG. After a formal selection process, WM was awarded the bid and together both companies will manage and operate SEG to pursue waste-to-energy opportunities and offer other waste services throughout China.

“SC Holding and SEG are great partners for us as we venture into the growing Chinese market,” said David Steiner, CEO of Waste Management. “We see waste as a resource, and we see international expansion of our waste-to-energy business through our subsidiary, Wheelabrator Technologies Inc, as a growth engine for us in the future.

Through this joint venture, SEG can bring increased operating and technical efficiencies and solutions to the rapidly growing Chinese waste-to-energy market.”

Together with Waste Management’s other renewable energy initiatives, this growth will move the company more quickly toward meeting its sustainability goal of doubling its renewable energy production to provide enough power for the equivalent of two million homes by 2020.