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- Waste Management, combined with its wholly owned subsidiary Recycle America, is North America's largest recycler, managing 8 million tons of recyclables, saving natural resources and energy.
- Our renewable energy projects create enough energy to power about 1 million homes and save the equivalent of about more than 14 million barrels of oil per year (or 3.6 million tons of coal).
- Waste Management's landfills provide more than 17,000 acres of protected habitat for wildlife, and 33 are certified by the Wildlife Habitat Council.
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By Melissa Perez, WM of Orange County
Whether they are boys or girls, trash trucks seem to bring out wonder and awe in children. The same holds true for little 5-year-old James Stepniak whose family business in Costa Mesa is serviced by 11-year veteran Waste Management Driver Francisco Cortez.
"I've been servicing his family's bin for 10 years now and I always see him waving to me when I come by each week," Cortez said. "He watches and gets excited when he sees me servicing the bin... he doesn't need to say anything, he just has that smile."
Last year on James' fifth birthday Cortez brought him a surprise: a toy trash truck. Since then, the boy has taken on a new appreciation for what Cortez does every day.
"Francisco gave him a truck for his birthday last year and it took off from there," said Peter Stepniak, father of James Stepniak. "With James it's all about trash trucks, when we are in the car he says ‘there's a green bin like Francisco's' it's all he can talk about."
According to his father, James has built a mini city out of Legos that mimics the area where the family business is located.
"I make him little colored dumpsters for his mini Lego city," Stepniak said. "He makes sure that the bin color for each business matches what it is in real life."
Though quiet and reserved when he received his birthday gift from Francisco this year, it was easy to see that little James is a driver in training.
"You can just tell, he's going to be a driver or manager someday," Cortez said.
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