HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 30, 2007--Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WMI) announced today that Jay Romans has been named as the company's new senior vice president, people. Romans, a human resources professional with 30-plus years experience, joins the company's senior leadership team.

"We are excited that Jay is joining the Waste Management team," said CEO David Steiner. "He brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and leadership to the position. As we continue to differentiate ourselves from the competition and create shareholder value through sustainable growth, we have been making customer engagement through employee focus a core competency at Waste Management. Jay has specialized in developing high performance organizations and his experience in this area will be critical as we work toward achieving our goal of becoming a best place to work."

Romans joins Waste Management from the St. Joe Company, a real estate development company. Before that he was senior vice president of human resources for Hughes Supply, the largest distributor of supplies to builders and contractors, which was acquired by Home Depot in 2006.

"For the past few weeks, I have already been in discussions with members of the company's senior leadership to immerse myself in Waste Management's exciting employee engagement initiative," Romans said. "The goal is to make our company a great place to work and to create engaged, enthusiastic employees who deliver extraordinary customer service."

Romans received his Bachelor of Science degree from Kent State University and a master of science from Texas A&M University. He is a frequent contributor to "HR Strategic Review" and sits on its editorial board, as well as a lecturer for the American Strategic Management Institute.

Waste Management, based in Houston, Texas, is the leading provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America. Our subsidiaries provide collection, transfer, recycling and resource recovery, and disposal services. We are also a leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. Our customers include residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers throughout North America.

    CONTACT: Waste Management, Inc., Houston
             Analysts: Greg Nikkel, 713-265-1358
             or
             Media: Lynn Brown, 713-394-5093

    SOURCE: Waste Management, Inc.