An opportunity to clear the air

An important environmental benefit of our gas-to-energy projects and waste-to-energy plants is the resulting reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The combined impact of our landfill gas collection and control systems, our beneficial-use landfill gas projects, and our waste-to-energy business has made Waste Management one of the largest private holders of greenhouse gas emission reduction credits in the United States.

In 2005, through our recycling efforts we reduced greenhouse gas emissions by about 3.8 million tons. In our commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions we helped found the Chicago Climate Exchange, an organization established to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to provide a voluntary marketplace for trading greenhouse gas emission credits. As one of 14 founding members and the only environmental services company in the group, we made a commitment to further reduce our own emissions of greenhouse gases.

Waste Management also implemented an ongoing project to quantify and register our annual greenhouse gas emission credits with the U.S. Department of Energy’s greenhouse gas voluntary registry program, and we are the first solid waste company to join the California Climate Action Registry.

We have taken our clean-air commitment to the streets, through the replacement of nearly 500 diesel-fueled trucks with vehicles that run on 100 percent clean-burning natural gas. These new trucks comprise one of the nation's largest fleets of heavy-duty trucks powered exclusively by natural gas. What's more, most of our liquefied natural gas (LNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling stations are available to the public and other natural gas fleets, so we are helping other communities breathe easier, too. In California, we have retrofitted nearly 800 trucks with special pollution controls, such as oxidation catalysts or particulate trap filters, to reduce emissions.

Our natural gas trucks reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 15 percent. In recent years, Waste Management has received recognition from various agencies, including the EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy, for our work in advancing technologies for alternative-fueled vehicles.