Rafael Carrasco, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Strategy and President, WM Healthcare Solutions, WM (Waste Management)

WM’s acquisition of Stericycle marked a strategic move into the growing medical waste sector. “Rather than building one organically, which would take years, we opted to acquire an established network,” said Rafael Carrasco, President of WM Healthcare Solutions, in an interview with Invest:. Houston’s talent and innovation ecosystem supports this expansion, alongside WM’s focus on sustainability, home health waste services, and regulatory leadership.

What role has Houston played in supporting WM’s strategic expansion, including the Stericycle acquisition?

It’s been a year since our announcement to acquire Stericycle, a publicly traded company and leader in regulated medical waste services. These deals tend to be complex and drawn out, so we were excited to finalize it. The acquisition officially closed in November 2024, and we’ve been integrating the business for several months now.

WM has long been the largest environmental services provider in North America, but we lacked a comprehensive regulated medical waste platform. Rather than building one organically, which would take years, we opted to acquire an established network. 

The strategic rationale for the acquisition was grounded in growth. The regulated medical waste sector is expanding faster than the traditional solid waste sector in the United States. While solid waste typically grows with GDP, healthcare services have been increasing 5% to 7% annually over the past three years. That forecast signals strong volume growth and makes it a compelling avenue for expansion. It also enables us to offer a more comprehensive suite of environmental solutions to our customers, combining medical waste disposal with traditional hazardous and non-hazardous waste services.  

Why is Houston an ideal location for WM’s headquarters and continued investment?

Houston is our home, and in 2021, we opened a new campus downtown, occupying nine floors of the Bank of America Tower. The space has even been featured in several architectural publications. We often receive positive feedback regarding our office space, with employees particularly appreciating the collaborative spaces and modern design. It’s great having such a thoughtfully designed space now that we’re back in the office most days.

Being in Houston also gives us access to exceptional talent. It’s particularly relevant for our healthcare solutions segment, as Houston is a hub for medical innovation and care. Additionally, we benefit from proximity to major universities, including the University of Houston, Texas A&M University, and the University of Texas system. These institutions support our recruiting efforts and provide a deep talent pool for sectors such as healthcare, energy, and environmental services.

What industry trends or challenges are you observing in the healthcare and industrial sectors?

We often get asked about regulatory challenges. Interestingly, WM tends to thrive in high-regulation environments. We operate well above minimum standards and often exceed industry norms.

In healthcare, regulatory complexity is significant, involving local, state, and federal agencies like the FDA, EPA, and even the USDA in some cases. We’ve built a strong regulatory affairs team both in Washington, D.C. and locally to stay engaged and proactive. In fact, we’re partnering with agencies to help shape policies, such as those addressing fugitive emissions at landfills, expanding access to safe consumer drug disposal, and saving healthcare workers’ time while maintaining proper waste management.

In terms of trends, demand for at-home care is projected to accelerate, generating more waste and more demand for proper medical and pharmaceutical waste disposal options. This growth can be attributed to several factors, including an aging population, the increasing use of self-injectable medications to treat chronic diseases, and more stringent regulations for proper pharmaceutical and medical waste disposal.

How are you supporting client sustainability goals, and what partnerships are helping meet those needs?

As part of our Stericycle acquisition, many of our healthcare clients, including major hospital networks, are large, national players seeking comprehensive sustainability solutions to meet their recycling and waste diversion goals. They want to reduce CO2 emissions, minimize waste to landfills, and improve reporting transparency.

We look forward to offering our robust analytics and reporting platform to enhance our regulated medical waste services. This is something our sophisticated customers, from hospital systems to national retailers, are increasingly demanding. Using a single vendor for all waste streams can enable healthcare facilities to manage their sustainability, compliance, and cost containment goals in an integrated manner.

WM has been aligned with sustainability long before it became a trend. We’re investing more than $3 billion in renewable energy projects and recycling infrastructure across North America from 2022 to 2026. This includes capturing methane from landfills and converting it to renewable natural gas, as well as upgrading and automating recycling facilities like our recent development in New Braunfels, Texas.

Are there specific services in higher demand from Houston-area clients?

It’s still early in our healthcare solutions rollout, but we’re seeing growing interest from healthcare systems in the Houston area. They’re particularly excited about our reporting tools and self-service capabilities to measure and report on sustainability performance and more.

Our national clients already expect this level of service. The ability to track and manage waste comprehensively, from cradle to grave, is a priority for them.

How is WM attracting and retaining specialized talent in Houston?

We’re fortunate to be in Houston, widely recognized as the energy capital of the world. It offers a rich pool of professionals experienced in both traditional and renewable energy. We’ve brought some of these individuals into our renewable energy division.

Also, for younger generations like millennials and Gen Z, sustainability is a major motivator. We offer them the opportunity to work on impactful projects that align with their values, which is something that differentiates us from many other companies.

What are your top priorities for the next two to three years?

First, we want to complete our $3 billion in investments in recycling and renewable natural gas on time and ensure they deliver the promised returns. Execution is a core strength for us.

Second, we are focusing on strengthening recycling through our capital investments, developing

markets for recycled materials, working with producers on developing packaging that is recyclable and, in those states that have enacted Extended Producer Responsibility, working

with those EPR organizations on providing solutions for their goals.

We’re also continuing to invest in technology, including automation, artificial intelligence, and advanced analytics. These tools are helping us streamline our operations, improve safety and compliance, and empower our customers to make more informed decisions about their waste streams to keep communities safe, healthy, and thriving.

For WM Healthcare Solutions, the rise of home health care is an exciting area. With 14 million residential customers, we’re well-positioned to support safe and compliant disposal for home-administered care. We offer a mail-back program for pharmaceuticals and sharps waste, and we’ve recently opened a state-of-the-art, regulated Hospital, Medical, and Infectious Waste Incinerator in McCarran, Nevada — the most advanced of its kind, which has set a new industry standard to safely treat potentially infectious materials and safely dispose of unwanted medications.

Is there anything else you’d like to add about WM’s presence in Houston or new developments?

Yes, we also manage waste from airlines and cruise ships, which is known as “regulated garbage” per requirements from the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Regulated garbage is managed using similar treatment processes as we do for regulated medical waste to ensure foreign pests and organisms are not introduced into the United States. Every port city, including Houston, requires this service. Now that we’ve acquired Stericycle, we offer a full-service solution for compliant regulated medical waste disposal as well as recycling and reuse solutions to drive sustainability goals.