Waste Management of Southern California today unveiled a new compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station in Chino that will increase access to clean-burning fuel in the region.
“We are pleased with the strong commitment Waste Management has demonstrated toward cleaner air,” said City of Chino Mayor and Vice Chairman of the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s Governing Board Dennis Yates.
“By increasing accessibility to cleaner burning compressed natural gas fuel to fleets in Chino and beyond, we are taking positive steps to protect Southern California’s air quality as we work toward achieving greater sustainability.”
The public fueling station will refuel Waste Management’s local fleet and sell CNG to commercial fleets and retail consumers with CNG-equipped vehicles. The company now operates 24 CNG trucks in the City of Chino and plans to replace the few remaining diesel trucks later this year, making its entire fleet serving in the City of Chino 100 percent CNG-powered.
“Since natural gas-powered collection trucks run cleaner and quieter, we’ve made the commitment to use more in our local operations, while also benefiting our community with the opening of a public CNG station,” said Larry Metter, area vice president for Waste Management of Southern California. “We are dedicated to providing our customers with outstanding service while doing business in the most sustainable manner possible.”
CNG is one of the cleanest fuels currently available for use in heavy-duty trucks. Its use can reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 50 percent compared to today’s cleanest diesel truck and cut greenhouse gas emissions by over 20 percent. Each diesel refuse truck replaced with natural gas can reduce diesel use by an average of 8,000 gallons per year and cut annual greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 22 metric tons. As an additional benefit, CNG offers cost savings compared to traditional fuels and its trucks run quieter than diesel equivalents.
The Chino fueling station and local CNG vehicles are one element of Waste Management’s larger sustainability efforts. In 2007, Waste Management set a company-wide goal of reducing fleet emissions by 15 percent by the year 2020. Waste Management’s North American operations achieved this goal in 2011.
In North America, Waste Management currently operates the largest fleet of heavy-duty natural gas trucks in the waste industry with more than 4,000 natural gas trucks, including more than 1,100 in Southern California. For this reason, in 2012, the South Coast Air Quality Management District named Waste Management one of Southern California’s most committed companies when it comes to air quality and sustainability.
Earlier this month, Waste Management was once again recognized by the Ethisphere Institute, an independent center of research promoting best practices in corporate ethics and governance, as one of the 2015 World’s Most Ethical Companies.
