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Largest U.S. garbage hauler greens operations

Posted at 2:40 PM on 12 Oct 2007

Strange but true: Our trash is going green. The nation's largest garbage hauler and landfill operator, Waste Management Inc., has announced plans to make its operations more eco-friendly. The company hopes to double its landfill methane-to-electricity production by 2020, boost the fuel efficiency of its fleet by 15 percent by 2020, process more recyclables, and set aside more land for wildlife habitat. Now we almost feel bad that our lifelong goal is to put them out of a job.

sources: Associated Press, Houston Chronicle

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Comments: (4 comments)

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Waste Management

Waste Management stinks, literally. They locked out their union employees in Oakland this summer, and the people they hired to cross the picket line didn't pick up garbage in many areas for weeks. Including outside my apartment building. For weeks.

So when I think of Waste Management, I think of union busting, and piles of smelly garbage sitting around for days.

But good for them.

by gohlkus at 10:04 AM on 15 Oct 2007

Waste Management--not so green

Waste Management has been fighting against the expanison of the organics recycling (composting) program in Minnesota. They would rather fill up the landfills with material (food waste and soiled papers) that can be composted, then reduce the amount of material going to landfills. Plus, if the recycables they pick up are only 10% (sometimes even a smaller percentage) contaminated, they send the recyclables to the landfills that they own, rather than have the material recycled.

by logocat at 10:15 AM on 15 Oct 2007

Greenwashing

Yes, it sounds like WM's pronouncements need to be taken with a grain of salt.

by gohlkus at 10:18 AM on 16 Oct 2007

13 years?

Why will it take 13 more years to use the methane coming out of the landfills? That's pretty old technology and could be in place by the end of next year. All talk and little action is my take.

by catman at 5:12 AM on 17 Oct 2007

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