HOUSTON, Dec 07, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE: WM) today announced that Pat DeRueda, President of WM Recycle America (WMRA), will assume responsibility for the Arizona/New Mexico Area as Area Vice President, effective January 1, 2012. He will succeed current Area Vice President Dan Vermeer, who will join a newly formed unit focused on optimizing the company's enterprise-wide network of materials recovery, transfer and disposal assets. DeRueda will report to Western Group SVP Duane Woods. The company anticipates naming a successor President of WMRA by the end of December.

This move follows seven years of success for DeRueda, including the validation of single stream recycling as a core long-term strategy for the company. It also allows DeRueda to be closer to his family in the West, a change that he sought.

DeRueda will be returning to a market that he knows well, having held Market Area General Manager positions for the company's Arizona and New Mexico markets between 2002 and 2005.

Waste Management Chief Executive Officer David P. Steiner said, "Pat leaves WMRA in great shape. What was once a majority-owned subsidiary of WM known as Recycle America Alliance became under Pat's leadership a fully integrated, wholly-owned subsidiary that is now regarded as the leader in the global recycling industry. WMRA has experienced record profitability for the last two years. More importantly, by extracting more value from the waste stream, WMRA has demonstrated multi-year revenue and EBITDA growth well above company averages."

Steiner continued, "Pat takes back to the Western Group valuable senior experience in Houston that will further enhance his continued growth and leadership in the company. And we respect his intent to be closer to his family."

Vermeer is credited with, among other things, having developed a strategic network of key recycling facilities, transfer station and disposal assets in the Arizona/New Mexico market. He now carries that experience to the company's network optimization team. Said Steiner, "We appreciate Dan's valuable impact on the Arizona/New Mexico Area and look forward to him continuing that success in this key transformation initiative across our enterprise."

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are information of a non-historical nature or which relate to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties. In many cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," or "continue," or the negative of these terms and other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors. The forward-looking statements made in this press release relate only to events as of the date of this release. We undertake no ongoing obligation to update these statements.

ABOUT WASTE MANAGEMENT

Waste Management, Inc., based in Houston, Texas, is the leading provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America. Through its subsidiaries, the company provides collection, transfer, recycling and 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 United States. The company's customers include residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers throughout North America. To learn more information about Waste Management visit http://www.wm.com or http://www.thinkgreen.com.

SOURCE: Waste Management, Inc.

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