Waste Management 2008 Annual Report Download - page 27

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Waste Management is also at the forefront of
alternative fuel use. We operate one of the
10 largest fleets of heavy-duty trucks in North
America, and we have the largest alternative fuel
fleet of any company. With more than 425 trucks
running on clean-burning compressed natural gas
(CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG), we have
eliminated the consumption of about 3 million
gallons of diesel fuel per year—reducing
greenhouse gas emissions by more than 4,000 tons,
reducing NOx(oxides of nitrogen) emissions by
about 50 percent, and reducing particulate matter
by about 80 percent for these trucks.
In 2008, Waste Management announced a joint
venture with Linde, a leading global gases and
engineering company, to build the world’s largest
facility to convert landfill gas into clean vehicle fuel.
When the facility begins operating in 2009, it is
expected to produce up to 13,000 gallons of LNG
per day. This would reduce our fleet’s greenhouse
gas emissions by more than 30,000 tons per year
while also reducing our dependence on fossil fuels.
This project is another example of “closing the
loop” by fueling hundreds of collection and
recycling trucks with clean fuel produced from
a by-product of garbage decomposition.
We are testing the potential use of blended
hydrogen and natural gas fuel, which could reduce
overall tailpipe NOxemissions to 50 percent below
the 2010 emission standards. We are working with
manufacturers to increase payload capacity and
reduce the weight of garbage trucks, which will
reduce the number of trips they make on their
routes. In a groundbreaking application at our
operations in Fort Worth, Texas, we began field
testing heavy-duty hybrid trucks.
We are collaborating with all involved parties,
including equipment and fuel manufacturers as
well as federal, state, and local governments, to
meet the environmental and economic needs for
sustainability.
As we continue to seek ways to minimize the
environmental impact of waste, we also develop
new solutions for our customers and communities.
For example, paper mills produce a massive waste
stream of paper sludge. At our Augusta, Georgia,
landfill, we convert this sludge into a soil-like
material that has the ability to stick to steep slopes.
It can be used on the sides of strip mines to
reintroduce vegetation. It also holds moisture and
returns it to the atmosphere, reducing acid mine
drainage. It is suitable for use as a landfill cover and
is an effective base for growing switch grass, an
efficient source for ethanol fuel production.
rotecting and preserving wildlife is one of
our key goals.
Perhaps the most powerful proof that good
business practices can be good for the
environment is evident in the pristine wildlife
habitats at our landfills. When we began the year,
we had set aside more than 19,000 acres of land
adjacent to our landfills for the sole purpose of
nature conservation.
One of Waste Management’s sustainability goals
is to quadruple the number of our wildlife habitat
sites—from 25 sites in 2007 to 100 by the year
2020—that are certified by the international
Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC). By the end
of 2008, we had a total of 49 certified sites and
21,000 protected acres. Waste Management
has the only WHC-certified landfill sites in
North America.
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2008 ANNUAL REPORT