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Debt
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Debt  
Debt

3.    Debt

The following table summarizes the major components of debt as of each balance sheet date (in millions) and provides the maturities and interest rate ranges of each major category as of September 30, 2021:

September 30, 

December 31, 

    

2021

    

2020

Commercial paper program (weighted average interest rate of 0.3% as of September 30, 2021 and 0.4% as of December 31, 2020)

$

1,380

$

1,814

Senior notes, maturing through 2050, interest rates ranging from 0.75% to 7.75% (weighted average interest rate of 3.1% as of September 30, 2021 and 3.3% as of December 31, 2020)

8,126

8,465

Canadian senior notes, C$500 million maturing September 2026, interest rate of 2.6%

 

394

393

Tax-exempt bonds, maturing through 2048, fixed and variable interest rates ranging from 0.1% to 4.3% (weighted average interest rate of 1.5% as of September 30, 2021 and 1.7% as of December 31, 2020)

 

2,633

 

2,571

Financing leases and other, maturing through 2085, weighted average interest rate of 4.7% as of September 30, 2021 and 4.6% as of December 31, 2020 (a)

 

595

 

652

Debt issuance costs, discounts and other

 

(81)

 

(85)

 

13,047

 

13,810

Current portion of long-term debt

 

601

 

551

$

12,446

$

13,259

(a)Excluding our landfill financing leases, the maturities of our financing leases and other debt obligations extend through 2059.

Debt Classification

As of September 30, 2021, we had $2.8 billion of debt maturing within the next 12 months, including (i) $1.4 billion of short-term borrowings under our commercial paper program (net of related discount on issuance); (ii) $745 million of tax-exempt bonds with term interest rate periods that expire within the next 12 months, which is prior to their scheduled maturities; (iii) $500 million of 2.90% senior notes that mature in September 2022 and (iv) $168 million of other debt with scheduled maturities within the next 12 months, including $64 million of tax-exempt bonds. As of September 30, 2021, we have classified $2.2 billion of debt maturing in the next 12 months as long-term because we have the intent and ability to refinance these borrowings on a long-term basis as supported by the forecasted available capacity under our $3.5 billion long-term U.S. and Canadian revolving credit facility (“$3.5 billion revolving credit facility”), as discussed below. The remaining $601 million of debt maturing in the next 12 months is classified as current obligations.

As of September 30, 2021, we also had $54 million of variable-rate tax-exempt bonds with long-term scheduled maturities supported by letters of credit under our $3.5 billion revolving credit facility. The interest rates on our variable-rate tax-exempt bonds reset on a weekly basis through a remarketing process. All recent tax-exempt bond remarketings have successfully placed Company bonds with investors at market-driven rates and we currently expect future remarketings to be successful. However, if the remarketing agent is unable to remarket our bonds, the remarketing agent can put the bonds to us. In the event of a failed remarketing, we have the availability under our $3.5 billion revolving credit facility to fund these bonds until they are remarketed successfully. Accordingly, we have classified the $54 million of variable-rate tax-exempt bonds with maturities of more than one year as long-term in our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of September 30, 2021.

Access to and Utilization of Credit Facilities and Commercial Paper Program

$3.5 Billion Revolving Credit Facility — Our $3.5 billion revolving credit facility, maturing November 2024, provides us with credit capacity to be used for cash borrowings, to support letters of credit and to support our commercial paper program. The rates we pay for outstanding U.S. or Canadian loans are generally based on LIBOR or CDOR, respectively, plus a spread depending on the Company’s debt rating assigned by Moody’s Investors Service and Standard and Poor’s. As of September 30, 2021, we had no outstanding borrowings under this facility. We had $167 million of letters of credit issued and $1.4 billion of outstanding borrowings (net of related discount on issuance) under our commercial paper program, both supported by the facility, leaving unused and available credit capacity of $1.9 billion as of September 30, 2021. WM Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary of WM, guarantees all of the obligations under the $3.5 billion revolving credit facility.

Commercial Paper Program — We have a commercial paper program that enables us to borrow funds for up to 397 days at competitive interest rates. The rates we pay for outstanding borrowings are based on the term of the notes. The commercial paper program is fully supported by our $3.5 billion revolving credit facility. As of September 30, 2021, we had $1.4 billion of outstanding borrowings (net of related discount on issuance) under our commercial paper program.

Other Letter of Credit Lines — As of September 30, 2021, we had utilized $720 million of other uncommitted letter of credit lines with terms maturing through April 2023.

Debt Borrowings and Repayments

Commercial Paper Program — During the nine months ended September 30, 2021, we made cash repayments of $5.8 billion, which were partially offset by $5.4 billion of cash borrowings (net of related discount on issuance).

Senior Notes — In May 2021, WM issued $950 million of senior notes consisting of $475 million of 2.00% senior notes due June 1, 2029 and $475 million of 2.95% senior notes due June 1, 2041. The net proceeds from these debt issuances were $942 million, all of which were used, along with available cash on hand, to retire $1.3 billion of certain high-coupon senior notes. The cash paid included the principal amount of the debt retired, $211 million of related premiums and other third-party costs, and $15 million of accrued interest.

During the second quarter of 2021, we recognized a $220 million loss on early extinguishment of debt in our Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations related to the tender offer, including $211 million of premiums and other third-party costs and $9 million primarily related to unamortized discounts and debt issuance costs. We also recognized $6 million of charges to interest expense for the write-off of cash flow hedges associated with the tendered notes, which was previously being amortized to interest expense through the notes’ stated maturities. The following table summarizes the principal amount of senior notes redeemed within each series in order of acceptance priority level (in millions):

Principal

    

Outstanding

    

Notes Tendered

Description

 

Prior to Tender

 

and Redeemed

6.125% WM senior notes due 2039

 

$

252

 

$

6

7.75% WM senior notes due 2032

 

153

 

9

7.375% WM senior notes due 2029

81

4.15% WM senior notes due 2049

1,000

316

4.10% WM senior notes due 2045

750

334

3.90% WM senior notes due 2035

450

153

7.00% WM senior notes due 2028

330

73

7.10% WM Holdings senior notes due 2026

249

26

3.50% WM senior notes due 2024

350

194

3.125% WM senior notes due 2025

600

178

3.15% WM senior notes due 2027

750

2.90% WM senior notes due 2022

 

500

 

2.40% WM senior notes due 2023

 

500

 

Total

$

5,965

$

1,289

In conjunction with the tender offer, we entered into a reverse Treasury rate lock with a total notional value of $450 million to hedge our interest rate exposure. We did not designate the reverse Treasury rate lock as a cash flow hedge. Upon completion of the tender offer, we terminated the reverse Treasury rate lock and paid $8 million in cash. The related loss is included in other, net in the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations.

Tax-Exempt Bonds — We issued $125 million of new tax-exempt bonds in 2021. The proceeds from the issuance of these bonds were deposited directly into a restricted trust fund and may only be used for the specific purpose for which the money was raised, which is generally to finance expenditures for solid waste disposal facility and material recovery facility construction and development. Additionally, during the nine months ended September 30, 2021, we repaid $63 million of our tax-exempt bonds with available cash at their scheduled maturities.

Financing Leases and Other — The decrease during the nine months ended September 30, 2021 is due to $87 million of cash repayments of debt at maturity, partially offset by an increase of $30 million primarily associated with non-cash financing leases.