Consumers Energy : 2021 WASTE AND LANDFILL AVOIDANCE REPORT

Waste and Landfill

Avoidance Report

2022 Annual Report

This report covers the corporation's waste and diversion rate goals, 2021 year-end waste and landfill avoidance totals and data reported to benchmarking entities.

2021 Waste Reduction Goal

Diversion Rate Improvement Goal

Strategy and Major Milestones

2021 Data

2021 Benchmarking Data

2021 Waste Reduction Goal

In 2021, we set and surpassed our 2021 goal to reduce the volume of waste going to landfills 10% from a 2020 baseline. We achieved this by reducing waste nearly 15% for a total reduction of 1,571 tons. This goal was built upon the previous five- year goal to reduce waste 35% set in 2018, which was met two years early with a 54% waste reduction by the end of 2020.

We also refined our goal to reduce waste streams that could be eliminated

with recycling or waste reduction. The updated goal parameters no longer include contaminated soils because that waste has specific management requirements with limited reuse and recycling options.

15%

2021 Waste 8,969Waste

TotalReduction

2020 Waste
10,540
Total

8,000	9,000	10,000	11,000
	Tons

Diversion Rate Improvement Goal

We focus on waste reduction as the combined efforts of reducing waste, improving reuse, and increasing recycling. That is why we expanded our goal to focus on waste generated and the amount recycled. The percentage of the total amount of waste recycled is known as the diversion rate. Our 2022 goal is to increase the diversion rate to 90% from a 2021 baseline of 88%.

Reduce Waste

Increase Recycling

2022 Goal

Increase Diversion rate to 90% from a 2021 baseline of 88%

Major Milestones

We've achieved results with companywide strategies over the past eight years, including goal setting and creating a corporate culture focused on waste reduction.

Waste Reduction and Landfill Avoidance Major Milestones by Year

Reduction

5-Year Landfill

5-Year Waste

Diversion Rate

Goal Tied to

Avoidance

Reduction Goal

Employee

Goal

Increase Goal

Compensation

Creation of

Green Teams

Launch

Implement

Composting at

Corporate

Centralized

Headquarters

Waste

2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022

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Our Strategy

• Conserve and recycle soil and construction materials on projects that require clearing and digging.
• Engage employees to work in "Green Teams" devoted to caring for the environment.
• Fight Phragmites, an invasive species that threatens the health of Michigan's wetlands.
  We use innovative land-management tactics to keep the tall, harmful grass out of landfills once it's safely removed.
• Site evaluations to quantify the amount of trash we generate and how each facility handles waste.
• Recycle utility poles and rubber protective equipment used by line workers.

Our Investment Recovery Center collects a wide variety of materials, including rubber gloves, sleeves and other protective equipment used to safely maintain and restore power on Michigan's electric grid. The materials have potential reuse as a primary ingredient in surfaces at playgrounds and dog parks.

Hazardous Waste Reduction

Hazardous waste generation is reduced by:

• Using best practices to safely store products and waste to minimize potential spills.
• Evaluating and implementing process changes to reduce or eliminate generation of hazardous waste.
• Segregating hazardous and nonhazardous wastes to minimize volume.
• Purchasing products that will not result in hazardous waste.
• Limiting product orders to reduce excess that becomes waste.

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Reducing Coal Combustion Residuals

Our Clean Energy Plan, which sets a pace to retire our remaining coal plants by 2025, is an industry-leading move that will significantly help us reducecoal combustion residuals(CCRs) like fly ash and bottom ash, which are produced in the energy generation process. We've worked with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) to properly, and will continue to do so, until we eliminate these residuals.

We are responsible for the safe collection and disposal of CCRs. CCRs are collected and placed in a disposal facility licensed and inspected by EGLE.

EGLE approves and reviews engineering plans, groundwater monitoring programs, closure plans and financial assurance for each of our disposal facilities. Staff conduct daily inspections of each facility, and third-party professional engineers conduct annual inspections of all facilities for safety and stability. Additionally, EGLE makes quarterly visits to conduct compliance inspections.

Fly ash handling systems at each of our five coal generating facilities were converted to dry systems by 2009, which greatly reduced wastewater. We are committed to handling fly and bottom ash safely, including reusing concrete and other materials when possible. These efforts contribute to greater environmental protection.

Upon closure of CCR disposal facilities, we receive certification from EGLE that the facility has completed requirements from the approved closure plans. A 30- year post-closure care period is then initiated and includes inspecting the final cover, maintaining the vegetation on the cover and completing noted maintenance. Groundwater monitoring programs continue during this post- closure period to ensure compliance with water quality standards.

In addition to state regulations, CCRs are regulated by the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. In compliance with this act, we have provided data related to the operation and maintenance of our CCR disposal facilities on the Consumers Energy website's CCR Rule Compliancepage.

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2021 Waste Data

Consumers Energy

All Waste in US/Short Tons	2021
Asbestos	1,143
Hazardous Waste	30
Non-hazardous Liquid	7,892
Manufactured Gas Plant
Impacted Waste	172
Non-hazardous Solids (mostly
soils and trash)	22,993
PCB Impacted Waste	99
Wood	2,087
Incinerated	0
Total	34,366

CMS Enterprises

All Waste in US/Short Tons	2021
Asbestos	0
Hazardous Waste	0.1
Non-hazardous Liquid	6
Manufactured Gas Plant
Impacted Waste	0
Non-hazardous Solids	245
PCB Impacted Waste	0
Wood	0
Incinerated	0
Total	251

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