Dive Summary:

• Waste Management has decided that it will no longer process medical waste as a service and is looking for buyers for its 6-8 processing plants throughout the country.
• The medical waste segment in the company is putting a drain on management resources and capital which can now be freed up for oil and gas field waste services.
• James E. Trevathan, COO of Waste Management, stated that profits generated from medical waste were "less than $50 million without any doubt and maybe half of that," while Waste Management's revenue was $13.65 billion in 2012.

From the article:

"Waste Management once viewed medical waste as a growth opportunity for the Houston-based company, but the landscape has changed."

"Considering the future of the medical waste business is part of a larger push by the company to examine spending."

"Waste Management already has divested a couple of facilities to Stericycle, Inc., the largest medical waste company in the country."