Business Editors/Environment Writers

ORANGE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--October 23, 2008--Waste Management of Orange County has achieved Cal/OSHA’s esteemed “SHARP,” or Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program, designation at its four sites in Orange County, the company announced today.

County Supervisors Bill Campbell and Janet Nguyen and Orange Mayor Carolyn Cavecche helped preside over the luncheon and ceremony yesterday that honored Waste Management employees. Cal/OSHA regional manager Michael Alvarez presented the honor to Waste Management.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration SHARP designation is designed to meet the Federal OSHA requirements. Certified businesses must demonstrate active management commitment and employee involvement in their safety and health management systems.

“I am pleased to honor Waste Management in this achievement,” said County Supervisor Bill Campbell. “I know safety is a critical factor in Waste Management’s operations and I am glad to be part of their official recognition in keeping Orange County safer.”

“A safe work environment is essential to us at Waste Management,” said David Ross, senior district manager. “We know that by maintaining extra-safe operations, we prevent accidents in the workplace and out in the community. This recognition from Cal/OSHA is rewarding to us as we’ve really seen our employees go the extra mile in keeping operations safe.”

All Waste Management employees receive safety training appropriate for their positions within the company – whether serving as a driver of a collection vehicle, maintenance technician or within the office – and participate in regular safety refresher courses or additional trainings as needed. Waste Management also has an employee safety committee and made up of employees with the site’s best safety records that provide recommendations for safety improvements, root cause analyses of incidents and share best practices.

Waste Management of Orange County serves more than 200,000 residential customers and approximately 15,000 commercial customers in nine cities and several unicorporated regions of the county. The company also provides 3,500 industrial customers with roll-off service for bins or specials compacters each week. From yards located in Santa Ana and Irvine, Waste Management of Orange County’s 500 employees deploy 300 trucks up to seven days per week to provide residential, commercial, and industrial trash collection, recycling services and dumpster rentals.

For more information about Waste Management, visit www.wmorangecounty.com.

Waste Management (NYSE: WMI), 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.

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