Green is a bunch of garbage

Turning trash into something useful? Who would have thought. The old saying that one man’s junk is another man’s treasure rings true with Waste Management’s new latest sustainable business practices.

Waste Management, which is quite an ironic name for the present environmental situation we’re in, is working to “reverse the way you think about waste”, according to a recent article written by Sarah Lozanova. What once was probably a clever name for a company whose job was to pick up trash, waste management now means something really important and even provides a new direction for an old, established company.

Leaving the brown trucks to UPS, Waste Management has decided to roll out 300 green trucks in California that are fueled by the very garbage they are designed to transport. The gasses from landfills are being purified and liquefied, turned into liquefied nitrogen gas that will power the trucks. Waste Management has the hefty goal of reducing emissions from garbage trucks by 15% by the year 2020.

The important thing to note in this transition of a dirty job into a cleaner one, is the importance of partnerships in moving toward sustainability. To be good stewards of the Earth and its resources people, companies, and communities will need to work together to produce effective and lasting results. Waste Management has partnered with Linde North America in its efforts to convert landfill gasses into clean burning fuel.

The conversion of landfill gasses does come at a cost. Waste Management’s Altamont Landfill facility in Livermore, California will begin operations in 2009 and comes with a price tag of $15.5 million. However, that cost provides a reduction in greenhouse gasses by more than 30,000 tons per year. Capitalizing on the benefits of waste may prove an inviting trend for other businesses in the future. Waste Management is teaching consumers and businesses that green efforts, oddly enough, can be a bunch of garbage. How ironic.