Waste Management Could Spend Billions Of Dollars On Green Initiatives

October 11, 2007

Email this story Print this post Add your comments

Waste Management plans to spend up to $500 million per year for the next 10 years to replace its fleet with vehicles that get better fuel efficiency and that will reduce emissions by 15 percent by 2020, the Houston Chronicle reports. The move is part of a larger announcement of new initiatives.

In addition to fleet changes, the company plans to spend about $400 million to add gas-to-energy equipment to about 60 landfills by 2012. Today, Waste Management creates enough energy for the equivalent of 1 million homes each year. By 2020 it expects to double that output, producing enough energy for the equivalent of more than 2 million homes.

WM says it will also increase the volume of recyclable materials managed. Waste Management currently manages 8 million tons of recyclables; by 2020 it plans to capture enough of the increasing volumes to manage more than 20 million tons.

By 2020, WM also plans to increase by more than four times the number of facilities -? from 24 to 100 -? certified by the Wildlife Habitat Council, and increase the number of acres set aside for conservation and wildlife habitat to approximately 25,000.

While he wouldn’t talk about the exact cost or benefits, CEO David Steiner told the Houston Chronicle the initiative is expected to add to the bottom line.

“We don’t put a round dollar amount on it,” he said. “The return has to exceed our current returns or we wouldn’t make that investment. They are going to be good for our business.”

Email this story Print this post Add your comments

Advertisers

Enhance Sustainability. Improve Profitability.

Learn how at the SAP Sustainability Resource Center. >>

Unclear about the EPA's new GHG Rule?

Learn how it could affect your business. >>

EPA mandatory emissions reporting starts Jan 1st

CSA Standards can help your organization get ready for compliance. Find out how. >>

Product Environmental Compliance Best Practices

How to achieve compliance at a significantly lower cost. Download the full report. >>

Join the Discussion

Reader Comments

Reducing emissions by 15% seems a very modest goal. With the scale of buying power represented by Waste Management, why not ask vehicle suppliers to provide methane gas powered vehicles so that WM could produce its own fuel? WM is in a unique position to move the supply chain and to advance the concept of waste-as-food.

Ken Neuhauser | October 18th, 2007

I hope part of Waste Management’s plan includes the addition of retrofit technology for their vehicles. Retrofitting diesel vehicles can help reduce emissions anywhere from 25-90%.

Dawn Fenton | October 18th, 2007

It is important to note that our plan is to reduce fleet emissions and increase fuel efficiency by 15 percent respectively. This is over a period of 10 years and will be accomplished by 2020.

Achieving that result assumes up to 30 percent emissions reductions and increased fuel efficiencies at that level when our entire fleet is fully converted to a new technology. In the interim we are continuously working on route optimization to reduce our travel times and have nearly 1300 trucks fueled by natural gas or retrofitted with special pollution control equipment. We’re also experimenting with the use of biodiesel for our fleet across the country as well as evaluating a wide range of technologies and services such as converting landfill gas from our landfills into synthetic diesel for our fleet.

Wes Muir, Director of Corporate Communications, Waste Management Inc. | October 22nd, 2007

Recent Daily News [ see all ]

11/20/2009
11/19/2009
11/18/2009

Charts [ see all ]

European Paper Industry Cuts CO2 Emissions by 42% since 1990

S. America Takes Most Urgent View of Copenhagen Talks

Nike Tops Annual Climate Action Scores

Oceans May Trap more Carbon than Forests

Jobs

View All Jobs >> Post a Job >>

Comments and Discussions

Trade Association on Trade Group on EPA Chemical Regs: ‘If Everything is a Priority, Then Nothing is a Priority’
"Seriously… that..."

Gary Markowitz on Supermarkets Tackle Emissions Reductions, Fuel Efficiency
"Supermarkets waste over 10 percent of their energy through improper..."

peter in ireland on Ontario May Follow California’s Lead on TV Energy Efficiency
"Governor Schwarzenegger is shooting himself in the foot! 1...."

Environmental Leader on S. America Takes Most Urgent View of Copenhagen Talks
"The survey respondents (the PDF report mentions 4,000 respondents in 38..."

Jake on UPS Trying New Hydraulic Hybrid Trucks
"A point of clarification: the Reuters press release referenced herein reports that 20 UPS will purchase..."

Custom Organic Shirts on S. America Takes Most Urgent View of Copenhagen Talks
"90% of North Americans believe it is urgent to get a global climate..."

peter dublin on California City’s Green Building Ordinance Applies to Commercial Buildings
"Why energy efficiebnt regulation on buildings –..."

Environmental Leader