The past year has been brutal for dividend-focused investors. Companies that not long ago were considered rock-solid dividend plays -- AIG (NYSE: AIG), MBIA (NYSE: MBI), etc. -- are slashing payouts left and right. More companies cut their dividends in the first half of 2009 than in all of 2006 through 2008 combined. (That'd be 400 vs. 382, for the curious.)

There's plenty of reason to be sore about those dividend cuts: Mind-blowingly thorough research from Wharton professor Jeremy Siegel shows that dividends are a crucial driverof long-term market outperformance.

But rather than spend the rest of this recession hiding under a rock, we dividend-loving investors can profit. Yes, many companies are cutting their dividends, but there are plenty of stocks not only maintaining their dividends, but growingthem -- 34 in September alone!

Spotting the long-haul winners
As we've seen, cuts happen. But fortunately, identifying dividend payers with sustainable, growing payouts isn't exactly rocket science. You just need to know what you're looking for.

Companies with long, uninterrupted histories of dishing out dividends typically share these three traits.

1. They consistently rake in cash.
Healthy dividends are funded with free cash flow, which means that prodigious cash generation and dividend safety go hand in hand. Dividend-dealers Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) and Monsanto (MON), for example, convert about 19% and 16% of revenue into free cash, respectively.

2. They aren't cyclical.
During boom times, profits in a cyclical industry flow like a Saudi oil well, often leading management teams to overcommit to high dividends and significant expansion. Picture miners, dry bulk shippers, and homebuilders, among others.

When a cyclical industry tightens up (and such industries alwaysdo), cash profits follow suit, and once-high dividend payouts quickly find themselves on the chopping block.

3. They are conservatively capitalized.
Even well-run companies that aren't in cyclical industries can occasionally find themselves on the outs. Look for companies that consistently produce operating profits well in excess of their debt obligations. By looking out for companies that demonstrate these qualities, you're setting yourself up to find the next great dividend winner.

A company that recently caught my eye -- and that demonstrates these three qualities -- is Motley Fool Income Investor recommendation Waste Management , the largest player in the trash game.

Trash and cash
Waste Management operates in a pretty mundane industry. But your trash is Waste Management's cash. The company turns a solid 9% of its revenue into free cash flow and pulls in operating profits nearly five times the size of its interest expense.

And while declines in industrial trash collection have slowed growth, those of us who routinely lug our trash to the curb can attest that demand for residential trash collection is extremelyconsistent.

Owning shares of Waste Management is a bit like having a stake in a collection of small near-monopolies. Building a landfill requires a lot of cash, involves miles of red tape, and incites intense blowback from the locals. These challenges keep competition at bay and have helped lead to consolidation and better pricing in the industry.

It gets better
For starters, there's no real chance that technological obsolescence will undercut Waste Management's service offering. Similarly, unlike a Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM), Waste Management doesn't have to spend a huge chunk of its coin on research and development on an ongoing basis. Waste hauling is as static a business as it is boring -- and that's a good thing. Continued...