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Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2024

Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

5. Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

Goodwill was $13,438 million and $9,254 million as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. As discussed in Note 2, we perform our annual impairment test of goodwill balances for our reporting units using a measurement date of October 1. We will also perform interim tests if an impairment indicator exists. In 2023, as a result of a longer-than-anticipated ramp toward full scale and profitability of a business engaged in accelerating film and plastic wrap recycling capabilities, we recorded a goodwill impairment charge of $168 million, with $22 million attributable to noncontrolling interests. This charge was partially offset by the recognition of $46 million of income related to the reversal of a liability for contingent consideration associated with our investment in such business for the year ended December 31, 2023. This net charge was reflected in our financial statements as part of our Recycling Processing and Sales segment. Fair value of the business was estimated using an income approach based on long-term projected discounted future cash flows of the reporting unit. The $4,184 million increase in goodwill during 2024 is primarily related to our acquisition of Stericycle. There were no impairments of goodwill or other intangible assets as of December 31, 2024. See Notes 11 and 17 for additional information.

Goodwill is included within each segment’s total assets. For segment reporting purposes, our recycling facilities and recycling brokerage services are included within our Recycling Processing and Sales segment. All of the goodwill from our acquisition of Stericycle was provisionally assigned to the WM Healthcare Solutions segment. The assignment of goodwill to reporting units is not complete as of December 31, 2024. The following table presents changes in goodwill during the reported periods (in millions):


							Recycling		WM
	Collection and Disposal						Processing		Healthcare
	East Tier		West Tier		Other Ancillary		and Sales		Solutions		Other		Total
Balance, December 31, 2022	$	5,072	$	3,696	$	27	$	527	$	—	$	1	$	9,323
Acquired goodwill		13		70		—		7		—		—		90
Divested goodwill		—		—		—		—		—		—		—
Impairments		—		—		—		(168)		—		—		(168)
Foreign currency translation and other		9		—		—		—		—		—		9
Balance, December 31, 2023	$	5,094	$	3,766	$	27	$	366	$	—	$	1	$	9,254
Acquired goodwill		553		30		—		5		3,633		—		4,221
Divested goodwill		—		(4)		—		—		—		—		(4)
Impairments		—		—		—		—		—		—		—
Foreign currency translation and other		(32)		—		—		(1)		—		—		(33)
Balance, December 31, 2024	$	5,615	$	3,792	$	27	$	370	$	3,633	$	1	$	13,438

Our other intangible assets consisted of the following as of December 31 (in millions):


			Customer		Covenants		Licenses,
	Trade names		and Supplier		Not-to-		Permits
			Relationships		Compete		and Other		Total
2024
Intangible assets	$	821	$	3,549	$	44	$	579	$	4,993
Less: Accumulated amortization		(21)		(673)		(14)		(97)		(805)
	$	800	$	2,876	$	30	$	482	$	4,188
2023
Intangible assets	$	27	$	1,235	$	46	$	141	$	1,422
Less: Accumulated amortization		(8)		(551)		(19)		(93)		(663)
	$	19	$	684	$	27	$	48	$	759

Amortization expense for other intangible assets was $180 million, $129 million and $129 million for 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Additional information related to other intangible assets acquired through business combinations is included in Note 17. As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, we had $970 million and $21 million, respectively, of indefinite lived trade names, licenses, permits and other intangible assets that are not subject to amortization because they do not have stated expirations or have routine, administrative renewal processes. As of December 31, 2024, we expect annual amortization expense related to other intangible assets to be $448 million in 2025, $405 million in 2026, $300 million in 2027, $267 million in 2028 and $220 million in 2029. See Note 17 for additional information related to intangibles acquired from our acquisitions.