HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 31, 2006--Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WMI) today announced Jeff M. Harris as the new senior vice president of the Midwestern Group, which encompasses 16 states in the U.S. and operations in Toronto and Southwestern Ontario in Canada. He succeeds Robert Damico, who is retiring after more than 25 years with the company.

"Since 1999, Jeff has served Waste Management in key operating leadership positions," said Larry O'Donnell, president and chief operating officer of Waste Management. "Jeff has operations, technical and field experience that will be invaluable to the company as we work towards achieving our goals of operational excellence."

Jeff joined Waste Management in 1999 and was most recently Area Vice President in charge of the Michigan, SW Ontario and Greater Toronto Market Areas. Prior to his most recent position, he was president of Canadian Waste with responsibility for all of our operations in Canada.

Having spent his entire career in this industry, Jeff brings more than 28 years of experience to this position. Prior to joining Waste Management, he worked 17 years with Browning Ferris Industries, Inc., managing operations within the states of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. He also spent 4 years working for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

Jeff is a graduate of Ohio State University with a B.S. in Natural Resources.

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.

Certain statements contained in this press release include statements that are "forward-looking statements." Outlined below are some of the risks that the Company faces and that could affect our financial statements for 2006 and beyond and that could cause actual results to be materially different from those that may be set forth in forward-looking statements made by the Company. However, they are not the only risks that the Company faces. There may be additional risks that we do not presently know or that we currently believe are immaterial which could also impair our business. We caution you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. In addition, the Company, from time to time, provides estimates of financial and other data relating to future periods. Such estimates and other information are the Company's expectations at the point in time of issuance but may change at some future point in time. By issuing such estimates the Company has no obligation, and is not undertaking any obligation, to update such estimates or provide any other information relating to such estimates. The following are some of the risks we face:

    --  competition may negatively affect our profitability or cash
        flows, our price increases may have negative effects on
        volumes and price roll-backs and lower than average pricing to
        retain and attract customers may negatively affect our yield
        on base business;

    --  we may be unable to maintain or expand margins as volumes
        increase if we are unable to control variable costs or fixed
        cost base increases;

    --  we may be unable to attract or retain qualified personnel,
        including licensed commercial drivers and truck maintenance
        professionals, due to any number of factors including
        qualified workforce shortages;

    --  we may not be able to successfully execute our continue our
        plans and programs such as pricing increases, passing on
        increased costs to our customers, divesting of
        under-performing assets and purchasing accretive businesses,
        any of which could negatively affect our revenues and margins;

    --  fuel price increases or fuel supply shortages may increase our
        expenses;

    --  fluctuating commodity prices may have negative effects on our
        operating revenues and expenses;

    --  inflation and resulting higher interest rates may have
        negative effects on the economy, which could result in
        decreases in volumes of waste generated and increases in our
        financing and operating costs;

    --  the possible inability of our insurers to meet their
        obligations may cause our expenses to increase;

    --  weather conditions cause our quarter to quarter results to
        fluctuate, and extremely harsh weather or natural disasters
        may cause us to shut down operations;

    --  possible changes in our estimates of site remediation
        requirements, final capping, closure and post-closure
        obligations, compliance and regulatory developments may
        increase our expenses;

    --  regulations may negatively impact our business by, among other
        things, increasing the cost to comply with regulatory
        requirements and the potential liabilities associated with
        disposal operations;

    --  if we are unable to obtain and maintain permits needed to
        operate our facilities our results of operations will be
        negatively impacted;

    --  limitations or bans on disposal or transportation of
        out-of-state or cross-border waste or certain categories of
        waste can increase our expenses;

    --  possible charges as a result of shut-down operations,
        uncompleted development or expansion projects or other events
        may negatively affect earnings;

    --  trends toward requiring recycling, waste reduction at the
        source and prohibiting the disposal of certain types of wastes
        could have negative effects on volumes of waste going to
        landfills and waste-to-energy facilities, which are higher
        margin businesses than recycling;

    --  management's attention may be diverted and operating expenses
        may increase due to efforts by labor unions to organize our
        employees;

    --  negative outcomes of litigation or threatened litigation may
        increase our costs;

    --  possible errors or problems in connection with the
        implementation and deployment of new information technology
        systems may decrease our efficiencies and increase our costs
        to operate;

    --  the adoption of new accounting standards or interpretations
        may cause fluctuations in quarterly results of operations or
        adversely impact our results of operations; and

    --  the reduction or elimination of our dividend or share
        repurchase program or the need for additional capital if cash
        flows are less than we expect or capital expenditures are more
        than we expect, and the possibility that we cannot obtain
        additional capital on acceptable terms if needed.

Additional information regarding these and/or other factors that could materially affect results and the accuracy of the forward-looking statements contained herein may be found in Part I, Item 1 of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005.
CONTACT: Waste Management, Inc., Houston
             Analysts: Greg Nikkel, 713-265-1358
             or
             Media: Lynn Brown, 713-394-5093
             http://www.WM.com

SOURCE: Waste Management, Inc.