Waste Management CEO: "It's Always Better To Be Lucky Than Good"

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The business of waste management after going through some troubled times has started to make a comeback on back of lower energy prices. Waste Management, Inc. WM CEO, David Steiner, was on CNBC Tuesday to discuss the outlook for the company and why he sold the electricity generation unit.


Lower Energy Prices Helping


"When we look at our business, we look at it really across 3 different verticals- you get the residential business, you got the commercial businesses so small business and then we have got manufacturing and industrials. The low energy prices obviously drive industrial production," Steiner said. "So, it's good for us all across the board."


Steiner continued, "If you have got the consumer buying, the commercial business are doing better, low energy prices driving industrial production so our manufacturing and industrial does better and then residential for us is really the rock that holds the whole company together."


‘We Are Not Energy Experts'


Steiner was asked when and why he sold the electricity generation unit of his business. He replied, "I always say that it's better to be lucky than good and we had a business that drives by natural gas prices, electricity prices, our wheelabrator business and we are not utility experts, we are not energy experts on selling the electricity."


"So what we did is we continue to provide waste to those waste energy plants, but we sold to Energy Capital Partners who now owns the business and they produce the electricity. So its been good for us, we can take those proceeds and put them back into our core business and that's what we are going to be doing this year," Steiner concluded.

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Posted In: CNBCMedia
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