Should Waste Management take on its critics and fight back, or should it focus on its business and let the results speak for themselves? Should it view environmental advocates as a threat or an opportunity for the company?

Case Analysis Essay

Introduction
Waste Management faces serious changes in its environment. Both corporations and consumers are reducing the amount of waste they generate, and they are also increasing the number of goods they recycle. These trends challenge Waste Management since the high cost of collecting and sorting recyclable materials means that Waste Management loses money when it recycles them. What can the company do to meet increased customer expectations on one hand, while still finding a way to earn a profit on high-cost, recycled materials?

Activity Instructions
Review and address the following questions:

Should Waste Management take on its critics and fight back, or should it focus on its business and let the results speak for themselves?
Should it view environmental advocates as a threat or an opportunity for the company?

Like at Subaru and Walmart, corporate leaders worldwide are committed to reducing the waste produced by their companies. Since that represents a direct threat to Waste Management’s landfill business, what steps could it employ to take advantage of the trend toward zero waste that might allow it to continue growing company revenues?