Asset Impairments and Unusual Items

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2017

Asset Impairments and Unusual Items

Asset Impairments and Unusual Items

9.    Asset Impairments and Unusual Items

Expense from divestitures, asset impairments and unusual items, net

During the nine months ended September 30, 2016, we recognized net charges of $107 million, primarily related to (i) a $43 million charge to impair a landfill in Western Pennsylvania due to a loss of expected volumes; (ii) a $42 million charge to adjust our subsidiary’s estimated potential share of an environmental remediation liability and related costs for a closed site in Harris County, Texas, as discussed in Note 6; (iii) a  $10 million goodwill impairment charge related to our LampTracker® reporting unit and (iv) an $8 million loss on the sale of a majority-owned organics company.

During the third quarter of 2017, we recognized an additional $9 million charge to adjust our subsidiary’s estimated potential share of an environmental remediation liability and related costs for a closed site in Harris County, Texas, as discussed in Note 6.

Equity in net losses of unconsolidated entities

During the nine months ended September 30, 2017, we recognized $28 million of impairment charges to write down equity method investments in waste diversion technology companies to their estimated fair values.

Other, net

During the second quarter of 2016, we recognized $41 million of impairment charges to write down minority-owned investments in waste diversion technology companies to their estimated fair values.