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Asset Impairments and Unusual Items

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

11. Asset Impairments and Unusual Items

(Gain) Loss from Divestitures, Asset Impairments and Unusual Items, Net

The following table summarizes the major components of (gain) loss from divestitures, asset impairments and unusual items, net for the year ended December 31 (in millions):


	2021		2020		2019
Gain from divestitures, net	$	(44)	$	(33)	$	—
Asset impairments		8		68		42
Other		20		—		—
	$	(16)	$	35	$	42

During the year ended December 31, 2021, we recognized net gains of $16 million primarily consisting of (i) a $35 million pre-tax gain from the recognition of cumulative translation adjustments on the divestiture of certain non-strategic Canadian operations in our East Tier segment and (ii) an $8 million gain from divestitures of certain ancillary operations in our Other segment. These gains were partially offset by (i) a $20 million charge pertaining to reserves for loss contingencies in our Corporate and Other segment and (ii) $8 million of asset impairment charges primarily related to our WM Renewable Energy business within our Other segment.

During the year ended December 31, 2020, we recognized $35 million of net charges primarily related to (i) a $33 million net gain associated with net asset divestitures executed to address requirements of the U.S. Department of Justice in connection with our acquisition of Advanced Disposal, primarily within our West Tier segment; (ii) $41 million of non-cash impairment charges primarily related to two landfills and an oil field waste injection facility in our West Tier segment; (iii) a $20 million non-cash impairment charge in our East Tier segment due to management’s decision to close a landfill once its constructed airspace is filled and abandon any remaining permitted airspace and (iv) $7 million of net charges primarily related to non-cash impairments of certain assets within our WM Renewable Energy business in our Other segment.

During the year ended December 31, 2019, we recognized asset impairments of $42 million, related to (i) $27 million of goodwill impairment charges within our Other segment, of which $17 million related to our EES business and $10 million related to our LampTracker^® reporting unit, and (ii) $15 million of asset impairment charges primarily related to certain solid waste operations in our West Tier segment.

See Note 2 for additional information related to the accounting policy and analysis involved in identifying and calculating impairments. See Note 19 for additional information related to the impact of impairments on the results of operations of our reportable segments.

Equity in Net Losses of Unconsolidated Entities

During the year ended December 31, 2020, we recorded a non-cash impairment charge of $7 million related to an investment in a refined coal facility which is discussed further in Note 8. The fair value of our investment was not readily determinable; thus, we determined the fair value using management assumptions pertaining to investment value (Level 3). The remaining losses during the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 were primarily related to our noncontrolling interests in entities established to invest in and manage low-income housing properties. Refer to Notes 8 and 18 for additional information related to these investments.

Other, Net

In 2019, we recognized a $52 million non-cash impairment charge related to our minority-owned investment in a waste conversion technology business. We wrote down our investment to its estimated fair value as the result of recent third-party investor’s transactions in these securities. The fair value of our investment was not readily determinable; thus, we determined the fair value utilizing a combination of quoted price inputs for the equity in our investment (Level 2) and certain management assumptions pertaining to investment value (Level 3).