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Asset Impairments and Unusual Items

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

12. Asset Impairments and Unusual Items

(Gain) Loss from Divestitures, Asset Impairments and Unusual Items, Net

The following table summarizes the major components of (gain) loss from divestitures, asset impairments and unusual items, net for the years ended December 31 (in millions):


	2019		2018		2017
(Gain) loss from divestitures	$	—	$	(96)	$	(38)
Asset impairments		42		38		41
Other		—		—		(19)
	$	42	$	(58)	$	(16)

During the year ended December 31, 2019, we recognized asset impairments of $42 million, related to (i) $27 million of goodwill impairment charges, as discussed further in Note 6, of which $17 million related to our EES organization and $10 million related to our LampTracker^® reporting unit and (ii) $15 million of asset impairment charges primarily related to certain solid waste operations.

During the year ended December 31, 2018, we recognized net gains of $58 million, primarily related to (i) a $52 million gain associated with the sale of certain collection and disposal operations in our Tier 1 segment and (ii) net gains of $44 million primarily all from divestitures of certain ancillary operations. These gains were partially offset by (i) a $30 million charge to impair a landfill in our Tier 3 segment based on an internally developed discounted projected cash

flow analysis, taking into account continued volume decreases and revised capping cost estimates and (ii) $8 million of impairment charges primarily related to our LampTracker^® reporting unit.

During the year ended December 31, 2017, we recognized net gains of $16 million, primarily related to (i) gains of $31 million from the sale of certain oil and gas producing properties and (ii) a $30 million reduction in post-closing, performance-based contingent consideration obligations associated with an acquired business in our EES organization. These gains were partially offset by (i) $34 million of goodwill impairment charges primarily related to our EES organization; (ii) $11 million of charges to adjust our subsidiary’s estimated potential share of an environmental remediation liability and related costs for a closed site in Harris County, Texas, as discussed in Note 11 and (iii) $7 million of charges to write down certain renewable energy assets.

See Note 3 for additional information related to the accounting policy and analysis involved in identifying and calculating impairments and see Note 20 for additional information related to the impact of impairments on the results of operations of our reportable segments.

Equity in Net Losses of Unconsolidated Entities

During the year ended December 31, 2017, we recognized $29 million of impairment charges to write down equity method investments in waste diversion technology companies to their estimated fair values.

Other, Net

During the first quarter of 2019, we recognized a $52 million impairment charge related to our minority-owned investment in a waste conversion technology business. We wrote down our investment to its estimated fair value as the result of recent third-party investor’s transactions in securities of this business. The fair value of our investment was not readily determinable; thus, we determined the fair value utilizing a combination of quoted price inputs for the equity in our investment (Level 2) and certain management assumptions pertaining to investment value (Level 3).

During the year ended December 31, 2017, we recognized impairment charges of $11 million related to other-than-temporary declines in the value of minority-owned investments in waste diversion technology companies. We wrote down our investments to their estimated fair values which was primarily determined using an income approach based on estimated future cash flow projections and, to a lesser extent, third-party investors’ recent transactions in these securities.