Waste Management Incorporates CNG Trucks into Vancouver Fleet

Waste Management has begun using 20 compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks in the Vancouver, British Columbia, metropolitan area. The trucks are used to collect recyclables, food waste and garbage from commercial properties in the area. The firm is aiming to eventually convert its entire fleet in the area — a total of 100 trucks — to CNG vehicles.

According to Waste Management, the trucks emit virtually no particulate matter and 23 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than traditional diesel trucks.

The CNG trucks also feature quieter engines than their diesel counterparts, Waste Management claims.

“This initiative is all about clean air for the Lower Mainland and Metro Vancouver,” said Dean Kattler, vice president for Waste Management-British Columbia and Pacific Northwest. “Transitioning to clean air trucks to serve Lower Mainland communities and businesses shows Waste Management is listening to our customers and championing [British Columbia’s] bid to sustain its position as a world-class sustainability leader.”

Waste Management officials noted that the implementation of the CNG trucks in the Vancouver area is part of the firm’s effort to improve fuel efficiency companywide by 15 percent by 2020 and to reduce fleet emissions by 15 percent by the same year.

Other components of the firm’s long-term environmental plan include a goal of processing 20 million tons of recyclables by 2020 (up from 8 million in 2007) and powering 2 million homes through landfill gas-to-energy projects and waste-to-energy plants by 2020.

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