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Segment and Related Information (Tables) | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2021
Segment and Related Information |
Reportable Segments | Summarized financial information concerning our reportable segments for the three months ended March 31 is shown in the following table (in millions):
​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​
​ | ​ | Gross | ​ | Intercompany | ​ | Net | ​ | Income
​ | ​ | Operating | ​ | Operating | ​ | Operating | ​ | from
​ |  | Revenues |  | Revenues(c) |  | Revenues |  | Operations(d)
2021 |  | ​ |  |  | ​ |  |  | ​ |  |  | ​ |
Solid Waste: |  | ​ |  |  | ​ |  |  | ​ |  |  | ​ |
Tier 1 | ​ | $ | 1,639 | ​ | $ | (320) | ​ | $ | 1,319 | ​ | $ | 425
Tier 2 | ​ |  | 1,007 | ​ |  | (216) | ​ |  | 791 | ​ |  | 202
Tier 3 | ​ |  | 1,660 | ​ |  | (300) | ​ |  | 1,360 | ​ |  | 291
Solid Waste | ​ |  | 4,306 | ​ |  | (836) | ​ |  | 3,470 | ​ |  | 918
Other (a) | ​ |  | 665 | ​ |  | (23) | ​ |  | 642 | ​ |  | 18
​ | ​ | ​ | 4,971 | ​ | ​ | (859) | ​ | ​ | 4,112 | ​ | ​ | 936
Corporate and Other (b) | ​ |  | — | ​ |  | — | ​ |  | — | ​ |  | (286)
Total | ​ | $ | 4,971 | ​ | $ | (859) | ​ | $ | 4,112 | ​ | $ | 650
​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​
2020 | ​ |  |  | ​ |  |  | ​ |  |  | ​ |  |
Solid Waste: | ​ |  |  | ​ |  |  | ​ |  |  | ​ |  |
Tier 1 | ​ | $ | 1,503 | ​ | $ | (280) | ​ | $ | 1,223 | ​ | $ | 393
Tier 2 | ​ |  | 932 | ​ |  | (198) | ​ |  | 734 | ​ |  | 188
Tier 3 | ​ |  | 1,541 | ​ |  | (294) | ​ |  | 1,247 | ​ |  | 264
Solid Waste | ​ |  | 3,976 | ​ |  | (772) | ​ |  | 3,204 | ​ |  | 845
Other (a) | ​ |  | 554 | ​ |  | (29) | ​ |  | 525 | ​ |  | (25)
​ | ​ |  | 4,530 | ​ | ​ | (801) | ​ | ​ | 3,729 | ​ | ​ | 820
Corporate and Other (b) | ​ |  | — | ​ |  | — | ​ |  | — | ​ |  | (247)
Total | ​ | $ | 4,530 | ​ | $ | (801) | ​ | $ | 3,729 | ​ | $ | 573
(a) | “Other” includes (i) our Strategic Business Solutions (“WMSBS”) business; (ii) those elements of our landfill gas-to-energy operations and third-party subcontract and administration revenues managed by our Energy and Environmental Services (“EES”) and WM Renewable Energy businesses that are not included in the operations of our reportable segments; (iii) our recycling brokerage services and (iv) certain other expanded service offerings and solutions. In addition, our “Other” segment reflects the results of non-operating entities that provide financial assurance and self-insurance support for our Solid Waste business, net of intercompany activity.
The increase in income from operations was primarily driven by (i) increased market values for renewable energy credits generated by our WM Renewable Energy business; (ii) a gain from the divestitures of certain ancillary operations and (iii) significantly higher commodity prices benefiting our recycling brokerage services.
(b) | Corporate operating results reflect certain costs incurred for various support services that are not allocated to our reportable segments. These support services include, among other things, treasury, legal, information technology, tax, insurance, centralized service center processes, other administrative functions and the maintenance of our closed landfills. Income from operations for “Corporate and Other” also includes costs associated with our long-term incentive program and any administrative expenses or revisions to our estimated obligations associated with divested operations.
The decrease in income from operations was primarily driven by increased expenses as a result of (i) higher incentive compensation; (ii) a charge pertaining to reserves for certain loss contingencies and (iii) investments we are making in our digital platform.
(c) | Intercompany operating revenues reflect each segment’s total intercompany sales, including intercompany sales within a segment and between segments. Transactions within and between segments are generally made on a basis intended to reflect the market value of the service.
(d) | Income from operations provided by our Solid Waste business is generally indicative of the margins provided by our collection, landfill, transfer and recycling lines of business. From time to time, the operating results of our reportable segments are significantly affected by certain transactions or events that management believes are not indicative or representative of our results.
Income from operations in our Solid Waste business increased primarily due to (i) revenue growth from yield in our collection and disposal businesses; (ii) controlling our operating costs and margins with volume declines and (iii) higher recycling commodity prices. During the three months ended March 31, 2021, the contribution of Advanced Disposal to income from operations was offset by elevated depreciation and amortization of acquired assets.
Summary of operating revenues mix | The mix of operating revenues from our major lines of business for the three months ended March 31 are as follows (in millions):
​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​
​ |  | 2021 |  | 2020
Commercial | ​ | $ | 1,131 | ​ | $ | 1,063
Residential | ​ |  | 782 | ​ |  | 650
Industrial | ​ |  | 743 | ​ |  | 693
Other collection | ​ |  | 116 | ​ |  | 112
Total collection | ​ |  | 2,772 | ​ |  | 2,518
Landfill | ​ |  | 915 | ​ |  | 887
Transfer | ​ |  | 465 | ​ |  | 441
Recycling | ​ |  | 342 | ​ |  | 254
Other (a) | ​ |  | 477 | ​ |  | 430
Intercompany (b) | ​ |  | (859) | ​ |  | (801)
Total | ​ | $ | 4,112 | ​ | $ | 3,729
(a) | The “Other” line of business includes (i) our WMSBS business; (ii) our landfill gas-to-energy operations; (iii) certain services within our EES business, including our construction and remediation services and our services associated with the disposal of fly ash and (iv) certain other expanded service offerings and solutions. In addition, our “Other” line of business reflects the results of non-operating entities that provide financial assurance and self-insurance support for our Solid Waste business, net of intercompany activity. Activity related to collection, landfill, transfer and recycling within “Other” has been reclassified to the appropriate line of business for purposes of the presentation in this table.
(b) | Intercompany revenues between lines of business are eliminated in the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements included within this report.

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- Definition Tabular disclosure of entity-wide revenues from external customers for each product or service or each group of similar products or services if the information is not provided as part of the reportable operating segment information. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 280 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 40 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120311839&loc=d3e9031-108599 + Details
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- Definition Tabular disclosure of the profit or loss and total assets for each reportable segment. An entity discloses certain information on each reportable segment if the amounts (a) are included in the measure of segment profit or loss reviewed by the chief operating decision maker or (b) are otherwise regularly provided to the chief operating decision maker, even if not included in that measure of segment profit or loss. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 280 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 22 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120311839&loc=d3e8736-108599 Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 280 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 25 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120311839&loc=d3e8813-108599 Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 350 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=121556970&loc=d3e13816-109267 Reference 4: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 280 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 30 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120311839&loc=d3e8906-108599 + Details
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