1.	Basis of Presentation

The financial statements presented in this report represent the consolidation of Waste Management, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and Waste Management’s wholly-owned and majority-owned subsidiaries. Waste Management is a holding company and all operations are conducted by its subsidiaries. When the terms “the Company,” “we,” “us” or “our” are used in this document, those terms refer to Waste Management, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries. When we use the term “WM,” we are referring only to Waste Management, Inc., the parent holding company.

We are North America’s leading provider of comprehensive waste management environmental services. We partner with our residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers and the communities we serve to manage and reduce waste at each stage from collection to disposal, while recovering valuable resources and creating clean, renewable energy. Our “Solid Waste” business is operated and managed locally by our subsidiaries that focus on distinct geographic areas and provides collection, transfer, recycling and resource recovery, and disposal services. Through our subsidiaries, we are also a leading developer, operator and owner of landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States.

We evaluate, oversee and manage the financial performance of our Solid Waste business subsidiaries through our 17 geographic Areas. We also provide additional services that are not managed through our Solid Waste business, which are presented in this report as “Other.” Additional information related to our segments is included in Note 8.

The Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements as of June 30, 2016 and for the three and six months ended June 30, 2016 and 2015 are unaudited. In the opinion of management, these financial statements include all adjustments, which, unless otherwise disclosed, are of a normal recurring nature, necessary for a fair presentation of the financial position, results of operations, comprehensive income, cash flows, and changes in equity for the periods presented. The results for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results for the entire year. The financial statements presented herein should be read in connection with the financial statements included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015.

In preparing our financial statements, we make numerous estimates and assumptions that affect the accounting for and recognition and disclosure of assets, liabilities, equity, revenues and expenses. We must make these estimates and assumptions because certain information that we use is dependent on future events, cannot be calculated with precision from available data or simply cannot be calculated. In some cases, these estimates are difficult to determine, and we must exercise significant judgment. In preparing our financial statements, the most difficult, subjective and complex estimates and the assumptions that present the greatest amount of uncertainty relate to our accounting for landfills, environmental remediation liabilities, asset impairments, deferred income taxes and reserves associated with our insured and self-insured claims. Actual results could differ materially from the estimates and assumptions that we use in the preparation of our financial statements.

Adoption of New Accounting Standards

Debt Issuance Costs — In April 2015, and as subsequently amended, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued amended authoritative guidance associated with debt issuance costs which were previously presented as assets related to recognized debt liabilities. The amended guidance requires that debt issuance costs, other than those costs related to line of credit arrangements, be presented on the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the related debt liability, which is similar to the presentation for debt discounts and premiums. This guidance was effective for the Company on January 1, 2016. The Company’s adoption of this guidance was applied retrospectively and resulted in a reclassification of $52 million of such costs in our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet at December 31, 2015.

Consolidation — In February 2015, the FASB issued amended authoritative guidance associated with consolidation. The amended guidance makes changes to existing consolidation requirements associated with the analysis a reporting entity must perform to determine whether it should consolidate certain types of legal entities, including limited partnerships and variable interest entities. The guidance was effective for the Company on January 1, 2016. The Company’s adoption of this guidance did not impact our consolidated financial statements.

Reclassifications

When necessary, reclassifications have been made to our prior period consolidated financial information in order to conform to the current year presentation.