Waste Management Announces Ground-Breaking of its Natural Gas fueling facility in Columbus, Ohio Area

CANAL WINCHESTER, Ohio, May 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Waste Management today announced it has started construction on its new compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling facility to convert its fleet of trucks that service the Columbus, Ohio area. This will be Waste Management's first fleet of compressed natural gas trucks in Ohio. The CNG fueling station is being built at its Canal Winchester location.

"This new fueling facility will give us the direct capability to fuel a CNG fleet in the Columbus area, and with the CNG fleet, we'll lower our fleet emissions, helping to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. This demonstrates our commitment to being a positive environmental contributor to the communities we serve," said Frank Fello, Senior District Manager for Waste Management of Ohio. "The transitioning of our 55 trucks to CNG fits within our sustainability goals and our company's overall strategy to minimize our environmental footprint," Fello added. By late this summer, 25 new CNG trucks are expected to arrive. The transition of the rest of the fleet to CNG will occur over the next couple years.

The trucks will emit nearly zero air particulates and up to 25 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions. The engines also run quieter than traditional diesel engines, reducing noise during collection operations on community streets. The trucks, which use a "slow-fill" method, carry approximately 50 gallons of CNG.  This capacity allows them to run 10 to 12 hours and complete a typical day's waste or recycling collection route.

Waste Management's fleet of about 1,500 CNG and liquefied (LNG) vehicles is the largest in the North American waste industry. As part of the company's annual fleet conversion, Waste Management expects 80 percent of its new collection vehicle purchases to be natural gas powered trucks. It currently has natural gas fueling stations at 27 facilities throughout North America and more under development.

Waste Management is embracing clean fuel technology across North America and part of its sustainability goals include lowering emissions by 15 percent and increasing the fuel efficiency of its fleet by 15 percent by the year 2020.

ABOUT WASTE MANAGEMENT

Waste Management, based in Houston, Texas, is the leading provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America. Through its subsidiaries, the company provides collection, transfer, recycling and resource recovery, and disposal services. It is one of the largest residential recyclers in North America and a leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. The company's customers include residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers throughout North America. To learn more information about Waste Management visit www.wm.com or www.thinkgreen.com.

SOURCE Waste Management