Turning trash into dollars

Garbage? To David Steiner, it's "all good."

(Fortune)

There's more than a shred of truth to the phrase "one man's trash is another man's treasure." In this instance, the other man is Waste Management CEO David Steiner, whose company turns waste of all kinds into renewable energy and valuable recycled commodities. Waste Management operated 269 active landfills and 114 recycling facilities in 2012. It processes more than 12 million tons of recyclable materials alone. Fortune's Adam Lashinsky interviewed Steiner, who has been the CEO for nine years, to discuss the challenges of recycling, China's environmental footprint, renewable energy, and the future of garbage. A lightly edited transcript follows.

Fortune: Just to get things started, if you could give an overview of the company: Where are you, how big are you, who are you?
David Steiner: Yeah. So we do basic solid waste services throughout the United States and Canada. So when I say basic solid waste services, we're talking about recycling, we're talking about waste-to-energy, and then we're talking about all sorts of different types of collection and disposal for -- all the way from your household to big businesses to small businesses. We're covering them all, about 22 million customers throughout the United States and Canada.
And then about five years ago we went into waste-to-energy internationally. So what you've got is China has two problems: not enough electricity and a lot of garbage. What's the best solution? Burn the garbage to create electricity. So we have a joint venture in China where we're building waste-to-energy plants. And then we've got another joint venture in -- predominantly in England, but throughout Europe where we're building waste-to-energy plants.
So when you look at it, we're about 10% of our business is recycling, about 10% of it is waste-to-energy. Those two are growing faster than anything else we do in our business. We're seeing growth rates on recycling in our business at about 15 to 20% a year. We'll see that same kind of growth rate in waste-to-energy.

Nnmadi E. Armsrtong
23408162319833, 23408122735908
stone4sloane@gmail.com

World stock markets to grind higher

Major European indexes, including London's FTSE 100, have made significant gains over the past few months but have not pushed nearly as high as Japan's Nikkei or U.S. benchmarks.

LONDON (CNNMoney)

World stock markets look set to bump around awhile after Thursday's plunge in Japan before resuming a rally fueled by cheap central bank cash.

Investors had a rude awakening this week as the Nikkei index plunged by over 7% in its worst day for two years, leaving some wondering whether the surge in global equities was now over after such a significant pullback.

"This is a classic holiday market reversal," said Neil Shah, a director at London's Edison Investment.
When investors and traders return to their desks after the long weekend in the U.S. and the U.K., stocks would continue moving higher, he said.
Japan, where the benchmark Nikkei index has rallied by more than 70% in less than 12 months, could see a more substantial correction before turning higher again.
"I expect another 5% to 10% downside before another march upwards," said Nick Beecroft, senior market analyst at Saxo Capital Markets.
Central banks, including the Bank of Japan, have been a big driver of the bull market in stocks. With inflation under control and no sign of an acceleration in global growth, there's little chance they'll start turning off the easy money tap any time soon.
Related: Doomsday investors betting on market crash
Major European indexes have posted more muted rallies than Japan or the U.S. over the past few months as eurozone countries continue to struggle with recession, but some investors expect stocks to keep rising in the absence of shocks.
"It will require something fairly fundamental to derail this process," said Shah.
Shah said the odds of another eurozone disaster were low, and markets were likely to continue "grinding higher."
London's FTSE 100 index has surged ahead by nearly 25% in the last 12 months and is nearing its record high from 1999.
"I wouldn't be surprised if we saw another 5% to 7% upside in the market," said Shah, referring to the London benchmark.
City Index's chief global strategist, Ashraf Laidi, is also forecasting a "continuing uptrend" for European markets, even though he expect stocks will pull back in the near term.
Laidi forecasts that central banks in the U.K. and Europe will continue loosening monetary policy, which will help support the region's equity markets.
"The dynamics from the central banks that have been propping the markets up for the past eight to nine months are here to stay," he said.
Related: Eurozone business still going backwards
In Europe, Germany's DAX index hit an all-time record high this week as the eurozone's largest economy continues to avoid the recession gripping much of the rest of the region. But markets in Spain, Italy and France have been trailing, as those countries struggle with contracting economies and high unemployment.
"Investors are favoring quality over risk where they can find it, which has led them to Germany where they have a healthier economy than many of the Mediterannean countries," said Gary Thayer, chief macro strategist from Wells Fargo Advisors.
"There are still long term issues that need to be solved in Europe, so the better performing countries have better performing markets," said Thayer.

Nnamdi Armstrong
+23408162319833, +23408122735908
Stone4sloane@gmail.com