SUSTAINABILITY REPORT
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT
  • Protecting Tomorrow
    • A Message from Our CEO
    • About Covanta
  • Materials Management
    • Covanta and the Circular Economy
    • Zero Waste to Landfill
    • Recovering Energy from Waste
    • Sustainable Waste Solutions
    • Recovering Materials
    • Continuous Improvement
  • Environment
    • Reducing Greenhouse Gases
    • Minimizing Air Emissions
    • Improving Our Performance
    • Optimizing Water Use
  • Community Relations
    • Engaging With Our Communities
    • Community Partnership Programs
    • Covanta Employees Making a Difference
  • Safety and Health
    • Ensuring Safety in the Workplace
    • Promoting a Safety Culture
    • Delivering on Safety Performance
  • Workforce Engagement
    • Building a Great Place to Work
    • Investing in Training and Development
    • Promoting Diversity and Inclusion
Focus on stakeholders
Employees Community Clients Investors
  • About this Report
    • Materiality Analysis
    • Covanta’s Value Chain
    • Listening to Our Stakeholders
    • Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
  • Progress on Goals
  • Performance tables
  • GRI Index
  • Contact
  • PDF Downloads

Performance tables

Read about

  • Progress on Goals
  • Performance tables
  • GRI Index
Economic Data1
(data for Covanta Holding Corp., including all global operations, in millions USD)2 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012
Operating Revenue
Waste and service revenue 1,187 1,104 1,032 1,008 1,010
Recycled metals revenue 61 61  93 73 72
Energy revenue 370 421 460 431 394
Other operating revenue  81 59 97 118 167
Total operating revenue 1,699 1,645 1,682 1,630 1,643
operating expense3
Total operating expense 1,590 1,536 1,528 1,395 1,339
income tax
Income tax expense (benefit) 22 (84) 15 43 31
net income
Net (loss) income attributable to Covanta Holding, continuing operations (4) 68 (2) 43 136
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Adjusted EBITDA 410 428 474 494 507
Free Cash Flow 172 147 240 245 277
dividends
Annualized Cash Dividends per Share $1.00  $1.00 $0.86 $0.66 $0.60
Community Investment
Total donations 1.9 1.7 2.2 2.1 1.8

1  For complete information, please refer to Covanta’s Form 10-K filings.

2  For the years ended December 31.

3  Certain amounts have been reclassified from Operating Expense to conform to current presentation.

 

Workforce Data
2016 2015 2014 2013 2012
Employees
Total employees 3,582 3,539 3,224 3,269 3,142
Salaried 1,157 1,142 1,033 1,048 998
Hourly4 2,425 2,397 2,191 2,221 2,144
Global Head count
North America 3,537 3,511 3,202 3,244 3,108
United States 3,454 3,431 3,122 3,193 3,060
Canada 83 80 80 51 48
Asia 15 21 21 21 18
Europe 30 7 1 4 16
Safety & Health5
DART (Days Away/ Restricted/ Transfer Rate) 0.81 0.73 0.72 0.65 0.45
TCIR (Total Case Incident Rate) 1.00 1.26 1.02 0.95 0.74
Number of sites in OSHA VPP program 37 38 41 43 40
Contractor DART6 0.89 0.70 0.78 0.88 0.93
Contractor TCIR6 1.48 1.22 1.31 1.49 1.65
Diversity
Women (% of total workforce) 10% 10% 9% 10% 10%
Minorities (% of total workforce) 26% 25% 28% 27% 29%

 

2016 Employee Data
Total Female7 Male7
Employees 3,582 362 3,220
   Part-Time 24 9 15
   Full-Time 3,558 353 3,205
Contract Personnel 270 – –
Collective bargaining
Employees 288 – –
Percent of Workforce 8% – –
Employee geography
Americas 3,454 343 3,111
   Mid-Atlantic 519 17 502
   West Central 369 22 347
   Northeast 528 31 497
   NY/ NJ 456 24 432
   South 522 20 502
   Covanta Field Services 107 2 105
   Corporate Headquarters 659 184 475
   Covanta Environmental Solutions 294 43 251
Asia 15 5 10
Canada 83 11 72
Europe 30 3 27

 

2016 Diversity by EEO Category
race/ ethnic composition of our employees
American Indian Black White Hispanic Asian Pacific Islander Two or more races Total
Executives 0 4 60 1 1 0 0 66
Managers 0 16 415 23 35 1 8 498
Professionals/ administrative 1 50 507 48 40 1 9 656
Hourly4 8 264 1,477 223 104 48 32 2,156
age composition of our employees
Executives Managers Professionals/ administrative Hourly4
Under 30 years old 0 5 54 362
30-50 years old 17 245 351 1,132
Over 50 years old 52 288 296 772
Total 69 538 701 2,266
Gender composition of our employees
Female 9 98  200 54
Male 60 440  501 2,212
Total 69 538 701 2,266

 

2016 Governance Body Diversity
gender composition within our board of directors
Female 3
Male 8
Age composition of our board of directors
Under 30 years old 0
30-50 years old 0
Over 50 years old 11

 

2016 Employee Statistics
2016 Employee Turnover Statistics
Salaried Hourly4 Total Average Service (years) # of Voluntary Separations # of Involuntary Separations Total # of Separations Total Rate (%)
Total 1,157 2,425 3,582 10 302 193 495 14%
   Female 194 168 362 9 32 16 48 13%
   Male 963 2,257 3,220 11 270 177 447 14%
   Age less than 30 40 381 421 2 68 35 103 24%
   Age 30-50 551 1,201 1,752 8 159 88 247 14%
   Age over 50 566 843 1,409 15 75 70 145 10%
   United States 1,097 2,357 3,454 11 296 193 489 14%
   Asia 15 0 15 6 0 0 0 0%
   Canada 27 56 83 8 6 0 6 7%
   Europe 18 12 30 1 0 0 0 0%
2016 New hire Statistics
Salaried Hourly4 Total
Total 130 439 569
   Female 20 36 56
   Male 403 110 513
   Age less than 30 10 154 164
   Age 30-50 79 227 306
   Age over 50 41 58 99
   United States 113 421 534
   Asia 0 0 0
   Canada 3 6 9
   Europe 14 12 26

 

2016 Employee Human Resource Training8
average training hours7
Salaried 9-13
Hourly4 2-6

 

2016 Employee Safety and Health Training
Average TRAINING hours7
Field Employees 24

4  Hourly = Technicians/ sales workers/ admin support workers/ craft workers/ operatives/ laborers/ helpers.

5  Safety & Health data is U.S. and Canada only.

6  Contractor safety performance rates reflect the overall safety performance of the contractors employed by Covanta, not their specific performance on Covanta’s sites.

7  Not tracked for contract personnel.

8  For employees receiving training. Upper end of range reflects those who participated in diversity & inclusion (D&I) training during the year alongside other training programs.

 

Operations Data
2016 2015 2014 2013 2012
Facilities (owned, equity investments in, and/ or operated)
Number of EfW operations 43 46 46 46 44
  Total capacity (MW) 1,557 1,541 1,587 1,522 1,483
   Total capacity (TPD) 58,249 59,288 60,908 57,418 55,988
Number of wood waste energy projects 2 7 7 7 8
   Total capacity (MW) 75 165 165 165 191
Number of water energy projects 2 2 2 2 4
   Total capacity (MW) 17 17 17 17 48
Number of landfill gas projects 1 1 1 1 1
   Total capacity (MW) 2 2 2 2 2
Number of fossil-fuel power plants 0 1 1 1 1
   Total capacity (MW) 0 24 24 24 24
Number of material-processing facilities 15 12 1 0 0
Number of transfer stations 17 18 18 18 13
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) 20.0 21.2 20.7 20.3 20.6
Commercial & industrial waste (thousand tons) 1,416 1,292 881 812 670
Metals recovery8 (thousand tons) 513 496 489 441 432
E-waste recycled (million lbs.) 16.0 13.2 13.6 6.2 2.0
Energy Generation
Net electricity exported to the grid (million MW hours) 9.1 9.8 9.8 9.5 9.9
Steam exported (billion lbs.) 9.1 12 12.6 11 10.6
RECs, value recognized ($M) 11.5 22 22 17 5
Operational Investments
R&D Expenses (Capital expenditures associated with technology development, in millions USD) (2) (3) (3) (5) (27)

8  Metals recovery reported for U.S. and Canadian operations only.

 

Environmental Data
EfW Monetary fines and compliance frequency 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012
EfW CEM fines $48,707 $25,917 $34,871 $54,719 $45,000
EfW Stack test fines $10,512 – – – –
Other environmental fines, including biomass & other facilities – $177,800 $21,186 $67,500 $2,392
Percent compliance–stack tests (EfW facilities) 99.87% 99.93% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Percent compliance–CEMs (EfW facilities) 99.95% 99.92% 99.95% 99.94% 99.97%

 

Federal Standard 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012
Water
Total water use (Mgal.) – 9,129 9,193 9,038 8,440 –
Reclaimed water use (Mgal.) – 2,136 2,244 1,684 1,238 –
Reclaimed water use as % of total – 23.4% 24.4% 18.6% 14.7% –
Net EfW Life cycle GHG Benefit (thousand tons CO2e reduced, net basis)
Equity-share basis – 10,600 11,100 11,300 11,070 10,980
Operational control basis – 17,800 18,800 18,200 18,000 18,100
GHG Emissions (thousand tons CO2e) (equity share basis)
Total Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions – 4,530 4,865 5,066 4,757 4,357
Scope 1 – 4,379 4,744 4,912 4,615 4,204
Scope 2 – 34 8 23 19 25
Scope 3 – 118 112 131 124 128
Biogenic CO2 – 5,954 7,099 8,052 7,660 7,585
GHG emission intensity (tons CO2e/ $ revenue) – 0.0026 0.0026 0.0028 0.0030 0.0029
Air Emissions
Lead (μg/ dscm) 400.0 12.1 12.3 11.2 12.1 10.9
Cadmium (μg/ dscm) 35.0 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.1 0.9
Mercury (μ/ dscm) 50.0 2.7 2.5 5.9 2.5 2.5
Total dioxins & furans (ng/ dscm) 30.0 3.4 2.4 2.4 2.2 2.7
Particulate matter (mg/ dscm) 25.0 2.8 3.0 2.6 2.7 2.7
Hydrogen chloride (ppm) 29.0 6.8 6.7 7.2 6.9 7.4
Carbon monoxide (ppm) 100.0 29.1 29.3 29.3 30.9 25.7
Sulfur oxides (ppm) 29.0 7.5 8.0 8.2 8.4 8.1
Nitrogen oxides (ppm) 205.0 136.4 138.1 140.4 143.0 142.7

 

Non-GAAP Reconciliation (Adjusted EBITDA & Free Cash Flow–Continuing Operations) ($ in Millions)
2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011
Net Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations Attributable to Covanta Holding Corporation $(4) $68 $(2) $43 $136 $93
Operating loss related to insurance subsidiaries – – 2 2 10 3
Depreciation and amortization expense 207 198 211 209 194 192
Interest expense, net 138 134 147 159 145 122
Income tax expense (benefit) 22 (84) 15 43 31 60
Reversal of uncertain tax positions related to pre-emergence tax matters – – – – – (24)
Non-cash liability to pre-petition creditors – – – – – 15
Gain related to trust distribution – – – (4) – –
Impairment charges 20 43 64 15 (57) –
Defined benefit pension plan settlement (gain) expense – – – (6) 11 –
Loss on extinguishment of debt – 2 2 1 3 1
Gain on asset sales (44) – – – – (9)
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests in subsidiaries – 1 1 (1) 2 5
Other adjustments:
Debt service billings in excess of revenue recognized 4 1 2 9 9 22
Severance and reorganization costs 3 4 9 2 – –
Capital type expenditures at service-fee operated facilities1 39 31 – – – –
Non-cash compensation expense 16 18 17 15 16 17
Other 9 12 6 7 7 15
Total adjustments 414 360 476 451 371 419
Adjusted EBITDA $410 $428 $474 $494 $507 $512
Cash paid for interest, net of capitalized interest (135) (131) (119) (122) (112) (101)
Cash paid for taxes (6) (2) (11) (11) (8) (13)
Capital type expenditures at service-fee operated facilities1 (39) (31) – – – –
Working capital/ other 52 (15) (4) (37) (30) (22)
Cash flow provided by operating activities from continuing operations $282 $249 $340 $324 $357 $376
Plus: Cash flow provided by operating activities from insurance subsidiaries – – 1 8 5 2
Less: Maintenance capital expenditures (110) (102) (101) (87) (85) (80)
Free Cash Flow $172 $147 $240 $245 $277 $298

1  Adjustment for impact of adoption of FASB ASC 853 – Service Concession Arrangements