Monday, October 15, 2007

 

Waste Management works on ‘green’ strategy

By John Porretto
The Associated Press

HOUSTON, TX - Waste Management, the nation’s largest garbage hauler and landfill operator, plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars over the next dozen years to make its operations more environmentally friendly.

The company plans to increase its energy production from waste, buy more fuel-efficient vehicles and more than double the amount of recyclable material it processes, among other initiatives.

Waste Management chief executive David Steiner is scheduled to announce the plan today at the World Business Forum in New York.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Steiner said the “green” strategy also will boost Waste Management’s bottom line. The company reported $13.4 billion in revenue in 2006.

“I don’t look at it as how much it’s going to cost,” said Steiner, stopping short of putting a price tag on the plan. “I look at it as how much it’s going to return.”

Primarily through burning waste and using methane gas-to-electricity technology Waste Management now creates enough energy to power roughly 1 million homes a year. By 2020, it expects to double that output.

Already, the company is spending about $400 million over the next five years building facilities at 60 landfills to convert methane gas to electricity. Landfills are the largest source of methane emissions in the United States, accounting for 34 percent of such releases, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Methane is the second-biggest man-made contributor to global warming behind carbon dioxide.

Waste Management operates 283 landfills in North America, and 73 already have some form of methane-to-energy capabilities.

Paul Kleinschmidt, an analyst with Argus Research, said such “green” initiatives look good on paper, but it can take years to evaluate their financial and environmental successes.

On the recycling side, the company hopes to increase the amount of recyclable material it processes from 8 million tons a year to 20 million tons by 2020. Also by 2020, the company wants to increase its fleet’s fuel efficiency by 15 percent while reducing emissions by the same amount.

Steiner said Waste Management intends to make future truck purchases from the company or companies that can provide “greener” vehicles.