SUSTAINABILITY REPORT SUSTAINABILITY REPORT
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT
  • Sustainability Blueprint
    • A Message from Our CEO
    • Our Vision for Sustainable Waste Management
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Our Policies
    • Listening to Our Stakeholders
    • Materiality Analysis
    • Progress on Goals
  • Materials Management
    • Recovering Energy from Waste
    • Recovering Materials
    • Covanta Environmental Solutions
    • Supporting the Circular Economy
    • Zero Waste to Landfill
    • Continuous Improvement
  • Environmental Sustainability
    • Addressing Climate Change
    • Minimizing Air Emissions
    • Improving Our Performance
    • Optimizing Water Use
  • Community Relations
    • Our Approach
    • What We Do
  • Safety and Health
    • Promoting a Safety Culture
    • Ensuring Safety in the Workplace
    • Delivering on Safety Performance
  • Workforce Engagement
    • Building a Great Place to Work
    • Investing in Training and Development
    • Promoting Diversity and Inclusion
  • About This Report
    • Awards
    • About Covanta
    • Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
  • Performance Tables
  • GRI Index
  • SASB Index
  • Contact
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Performance Tables

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  • SASB Index
  • Performance Tables
  • GRI Index
Economic Data1
(data for Covanta Holding Corp., including all global operations, in millions, except per share amounts, USD)2 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014
Operating Revenue
Waste and service revenue 1,327 1,231 1,187 1,104 1,032
Energy revenue 343 334 370 421 460
Recycled metals revenue 95 82 61 61 93
Other operating revenue  103 105 81 59 97
Total operating revenue 1,868 1,752 1,699 1,645 1,682
operating expense
Total operating expense 1,805 1,651 1,590 1,536 1,528
income tax
Income tax expense (benefit) (29) (191) 22 (84) 15
net income
Net (loss) income attributable to Covanta Holding 152 57 (4) 68 (2)
Cash flow provided by operating activities 238 242 264 226 333
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Adjusted EBITDA 457 408 410 428 474
Free Cash Flow 100 132 176 152 244
dividends
Annualized Cash Dividends per Share $1.00 $1.00  $1.00 $1.00 $0.86
Community Investment
Total donations 1.8 2.0 1.9 1.7 2.2

1  For complete information, please refer to Covanta’s Form 10-K filings.
2  For the years ended December 31

 

Workforce Data
2018 2017 2016 2015 2014
Employees
Total employees 3,911 3,719 3,582 3,539 3,224
Salaried 1,230 1,193 1,157 1,142 1,033
Hourly3 2,683 2,526 2,425 2,397 2,191
Global Head count
North America 3,834 3,649 3,537 3,511 3,202
United States 3,676 3,520 3,454 3,431 3,122
Canada 158 129 83 80 80
Asia 15 14 15 21 21
Europe 62 56 30 7 1
Safety and Health4
DART (Days Away/ Restricted/ Transfer Rate) 0.61 0.77 0.81 0.73 0.72
TCIR (Total Case Incident Rate) 0.81 1.06 1.00 1.26 1.02
Fatality Rate 0 – – – –
Number of sites in OSHA VPP program 33 35 37 38 41
Contractor DART5 1.19 0.90 0.89 0.70 0.78
Contractor TCIR5 1.80 1.40 1.48 1.22 1.31
Diversity
Women (% of total workforce) 11% 11% 10% 10% 9%
Minorities (% of total workforce) 28% 26% 26% 25% 28%

 

2018 Employee Data
Total Female Male
Employees 3,911 438 3,472
   Part-time 34 14 20
   Full-time 3,877 424 3,452
Contractors 0 – –
Collective bargaining
Employees 298 16 282
Percent of workforce 8% 1% 7%
Employee geography
Americas 3,676 387 3,289
   Mid-Atlantic 533 23 510
   West Central 329 22 307
   Northeast 524 27 497
   NY/ NJ 457 28 429
   South 713 29 684
   Covanta Field Services 117 1 116
   Corporate Headquarters 584 178 406
   Covanta Environmental Solutions 419 79 340
Asia 15 7 8
Canada 158 37 120
Europe 62 7 55

 

2018 Diversity by EEO Category
race/ethnic composition of our employees
American Indian Black White Hispanic Asian Pacific Islander Two or more races N/A Total
Executives 0 3 58 2 2 0 0 4 69
Directors 0 8 223 8 12 0 5 8 264
Managers 0 9 237 19 24 0 2 20 311
Professionals/ administrative 3 50 437 42 37 4 9 34 616
Hourly3 12 329 1,695 307 104 59 49 96 2,651
age composition of our employees
Executives Directors Managers Professionals/
administrative		 Hourly3 Total
Under 30 years old 0 0 8 66 433 507
30-50 years old 17 97 165 340 1,244 1,863
Over 50 years old 52 167 138 338 846 1,541
Total 69 264 311 744 2,523 3,911
Gender composition of our employees
Female 13 26  85 240 74 438
Male 56 238  226 504 2,448 3,472
Total 69 264 311 744 2,523 3,911

 

2018 Governance Body Diversity
gender composition within our board of directors
Female 3
Male 9
Age composition of our board of directors
Under 30 years old 0
30-50 years old 0
Over 50 years old 12

 

2018 Employee Statistics
2018 Employee Turnover Statistics
Salaried Hourly3 Total Average Service (years) # of Voluntary Separations # of Involuntary Separations Total # of Separations Total Rate (%)
Total 159 445 604 6 432 172 604 15%
   Female 33 28 61 7 47 14 61 2%
   Male 126 416 542 6 384 158 542 14%
   Gender N/A 1 1 1 6 1 0 1 0%
   Age less than 30 14 119 133 2 106 27 133 3%
   Age 30-50 65 199 264 4 196 68 264 7%
   Age over 50 80 127 207 13 130 77 207 5%
   United States 154 427 581 7 412 169 581 15%
   Asia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0%
   Canada 4 8 12 1 10 2 12 0%
   Europe 1 10 11 1 10 1 11 0%
2018 New hire Statistics
Salaried Hourly3 Total
Total 158 614 772
   Female 32 48 80
   Male 126 565 691
   Age less than 30 19 189 208
   Age 30-50 74 315 389
   Age over 50 65 110 175
   United States 148 571 719
   Asia 1 0 1
   Canada 4 31 35
   Europe 5 12 17

 

2018 Employee Safety, Health and Environmental (SHE) Training5
EfW facility peronnel
Average Training Hours
Environmental 12
Safety and Health 24
Corporate supply chain personnel
Combined Safety, Health and Environmental 16
covanta environmental solutions personnel
Safety, Health and Transportation 5.5
Environmental 4.5

3  Hourly = Technicians/ sales workers/ admin support workers/ craft workers/ operatives/ laborers/ helpers.
4  Safety and Health data is for U.S. and Canada only.
5  Contractor safety performance rates reflect the overall safety performance of the contractors employed by Covanta, not their specific performance on Covanta’s sites.

 

Operations Data
2018 2017 2016 2015 2014
Facilities (owned, equity investments in, and/ or operated)
Number of EfW operations 45 43 43 46 46
  Total electrical generation capacity (MW) 1,714 1,574 1,557 1,541 1,587
  Total capacity (MW) 117 117 89 89 89
  Total capacity (TPD) 63,294 58,938 58,249 59,288 60,908
Number of material processing facilities 20 19 15 12 1
Number of transfer stations 16 17 17 18 18
Number of landfills 4 4 4 4 4
Number of electronic waste recycling facilities 1 1 1 1 1
Waste Processed
Total waste processed (million tons) 21.2 19.5 20.4 21.6 20.8
  Municipal waste processed (thousand tons) 20,574 18,976 19,992 21,247 20,711
  Commercial and industrial waste (thousand tons) 1,571 1,475 1,357 1,288 881
  Waste recycled (thousand tons) 933.0 842.1 789.2 744.2 568.3
  Waste processed as EfW (thousand tons) 20.6 19.0 20.0 21.2 20.7
  Waste incinerated, no energy recovery (thousand tons) 0.056 0.068 0 0 0
  Waste sent to landfill6 (thousand tons) 4,889 4,528 4,688 4,777 4,598
  Total hazardous waste processed (thousand tons) 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
  EfW ash sent to landfill (million tons) 4.7 4.4 4.6 4.6 4.5
Metals recycled (tons) 500,253 460,598 513,439 497,109 489,320
E-waste recycled (million lbs.)7 14.5 16.5 15.0 13.8 14.1
Energy Generation
Net electricity exported to the grid (million MW hours) 9.5 8.7 9.1 9.8 9.8
Steam exported (billion lbs.) 9.8 9.1 9.1 12.0 12.6
Total energy, million MWh electrical equivalent 10.3 9.5 9.9 10.8 10.9
RECs, value recognized ($M) 12.1 12.9 11.5 22.0 22.0
energy use
Total energy consumption (GJ) 206,876,643 194,119,485 200,601,105 220,642,869 226,573,051
  Waste (GJ) 206,470,028 193,729,772 200,005,559 220,339,467 226,245,299
  Fossil fuel (GJ) 4,202,198 3,769,015 3,839,415 7,398,593 9,107,429
  Biogenic fuel (GJ) 109,295,348 100,745,938 102,103,215 117,619,014 124,709,973
Fossil fuel (% of total energy input) 2.0% 1.9% 1.9% 3.4% 4.0%
Fleet fuel consumption (GJ)8 135,349 149,735 – – –
  Natural gas as fleet fuel (%) 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
  Renewable fuel as fleet fuel (%) 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

6  Not including ash from WTE facilities, reported separately.
7  Reflects total e-waste received for processing. Earlier reports attempted to estimate tons recycled, which impacted comparability between years.
8  Represents fleet operations, insignificant prior to 2017, predominately associated with Covanta Environmental Solutions (CES).

 

Environmental Data
Monetary fines and compliance frequency 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014
EfW CEM fines $83,172 $101,138 $68,061 $49,200 $53,857
EfW Stack test fines $- $- $22,600 $5,200 $-
Other environmental fines, including biomass and other facilities $20,750 $4,400 $1,000 $177,800 $22,686
Percent compliance–stack tests (EfW facilities) 100% 100% 99% 99% 100%
Percent compliance–CEMs (EfW facilities) 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

 

Federal Standard 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014
Water
Total potable water use (Mgal.) – 6,020 5,648 5,903 5,919 6,341
Reclaimed water use (Mgal.) – 2,649 2,331 2,749 2,672 1,892
Saline/other non-potable water use (Mgal.) – 58,276 1,052 1,089 1,030 1,013
Alternative freshwater use as % of total freshwater use – 32.9% 31.5% 33.8% 33.1% 25.4%
Net EfW Life cycle GHG Benefit (thousand tons CO2e reduced, net basis)
Equity-share basis – 11,100 9,997 10,600 11,100 11,300
Operational control basis – 18,200 16,860 17,800 18,800 18,200
GHG Emissions (thousand tons CO2e) (equity share basis)
Total Scope 1, 2, and 3 GHG emissions – 4,481 4,142 4,548 4,865 5,066
Scope 1 – 4,329 3,997 4,402 4,744 4,912
Scope 2 – 23 25 28 8 23
Scope 3 – 129 120 118 112 131
Biogenic CO2 – 6,289 5,781 5,928 7,099 8,052
GHG emission intensity (tons CO2e/ $ revenue) – 0.0021 0.0023 0.0026 0.0026 0.0028
GHG emissions covered under an emissions-limiting regulation (%) – 4.0% 1.6% 1.4% 2.2% 3.7%
Air Emissions
Total landfill gas generated (MMBtu) – 58,236 68,687 76,234 60,863 –
 Percentage flared (%)9 – 77% 84% 84% 84% –
 Percentage used for energy (%) – 0% 0% 0% 0% –
Lead (μg/ dscm) 400 10.7 11.5 12.1 12.3 11.2
Cadmium (μg/ dscm) 35 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.3
Mercury (μg/ dscm) 50 2.4 1.8 2.7 2.5 5.9
Total dioxins and furans (ng/ dscm) 30 2.2 2.0 3.4 2.4 2.4
Particulate matter (mg/ dscm) 25 2.7 2.4 2.8 3.0 2.6
Hydrogen chloride (ppm) 29 6.2 7.0 6.8 6.7 7.2
Carbon monoxide (ppm) 100 32.6 30.3 29.1 29.3 29.3
Sulfur oxides (ppm) 29 7.7 7.0 7.5 8.0 8.2
Nitrogen oxides (ppm) 205 131.6 134.3 136.4 138.1 140.4

9  Percentage flared based on LFG collection efficiency methodology in U.S. EPA Mandatory Reporting Rule, equation HH-3.

 

Non-GAAP Reconciliation (Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow)10,11

($ in Millions)
2018 2017 2016 2015 2014
Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Covanta Holding Corporation $152 $57 $(4) $68 $(2)
Operating loss related to insurance subsidiaries – – – – 2
Depreciation and amortization expense 218 215 207 198 211
Interest expense, net 145 147 138 134 147
Income tax expense (benefit) (29) (191) 22 (84) 15
Impairment charges 86 2 20 43 64
Loss on extinguishment of debt 15 84 – 2 2
Loss (gain) on asset sales (217) 6 (44) – –
Property insurance recoveries (net) (18) (2) – – –
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests in subsidiaries – – – 1 1
Other adjustments
  Debt service billings in excess of revenue recognized (1) 5 4 1 2
  Business development and transaction costs 3 5 2 3 –
  Severance and reorganization costs 5 1 3 4 9
  Capital type expenditures at service-fee operated facilities10 37 55 39 31 –
  Non-cash compensation expense 24 18 16 18 17
Adjustments to reflect Adjusted EBITDA from unconsolidated investments 23 – – – –
  Other 14 6 7 9 6
Subtotal other adjustments 105 90 71 66 34
Total adjustments 305 351 414 360 476
Adjusted EBITDA $457 $408 $410 $428 $474
Cash paid for interest, net of capitalized interest (136) (132) (135) (131) (119)
Cash paid for taxes (2) – (6) (2) (11)
Equity in net income from unconsolidated investments (6) (1) (4) (13) (10)
Adjustments to reflect Adjusted EBITDA from unconsolidated investments (23) – – – –
Dividends from unconsolidated investments 13 2 2 5 11
Capital-type expenditures at service-fee operated facilities12 (37) (55) (39) (31) –
Working capital/ other (28) 20 36 (30) (12)
Cash flow provided by operating activities13 $238 $242 $264 $226 $333
Plus: Changes in restricted funds–operating14 4 $1 $22 $28 $11
Plus: Cash flow provided by operating activities from insurance subsidiaries – – – – 1
Less: Maintenance capital expenditures (142) (111) (110) (102) (101)
Free Cash Flow $100 $132 $176 $152 $244

10  For complete information, please refer to Covanta’s Form 10-K filings.
11  For the years ended December 31.
12  Adjustment for impact of adoption of FASB ASC 853 — Service Concession Arrangements
13  Prior years were revised to reflect adoption of FASB ASU 2016-18 Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230) —Restricted Cash adopted 1/1/2018 and FASB 2016-09 Compensation — Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting adopted 1/1/2017.
14  Adjustment for impact of adoption of FASB ASU 2016-18 Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230) — Restricted Cash