The total reduction in air pollution includes cutting particulate emissions by nearly two tons per year and smog-forming NOx (oxides of nitrogen) emissions by an estimated 46 tons per year. The NOx reduction is the equivalent of taking 5,768 new passenger cars off of the road.

A total of 132 trucks, or 87 percent, from Waste Management of San Diego’s fleet have either been permanently retired, replaced with clean burning natural gas trucks or equipped with “best available control technologies” – special pollution controls such as oxidation catalysts or filters – to reduce harmful particulate emissions. Waste Management of San Diego provides residential, commercial and roll-off services to customers in El Cajon, Santee, Solana Beach and portions of both the city and county of San Diego.

“We operate 125 natural gas trucks in the San Diego area – the heaviest concentration of natural gas trucks within the company,” said Carl Scherbaum, District Manager for Waste Management of San Diego. “This factor, in conjunction with other pollution control efforts, have helped us achieve one of the top early compliance rates for Waste Management’s California fleet for reducing emissions of our trucks.”

Out of Waste Management’s statewide fleet of 2,742 trucks, 1,390 trucks – the largest fleet in the state – met the July 1 deadline for the early implementation of the nation’s toughest diesel emission reduction program. The company operates one of the largest fleets of low emission heavy-duty natural gas trucks in the country.

The California ARB’s diesel emission reduction program originated in 1998, when the ARB determined that diesel particulate matter (i.e., diesel soot) was a toxic air contaminant with significant public health risks. One of the ARB’s first strategies to reduce particulate emissions targeted the state’s 12,000 garbage and recycling trucks. The ARB created a schedule for all 1988 to 2002 model year trucks to be equipped with pollution controls, with a final deadline of December 31, 2007.

ARB also included an option to accelerate the compliance schedule, providing an early deadline of July 1, 2005, which requires that at least 50 percent of all 1988 to 2002 trucks be in compliance with the revised particulate emission guidelines. Waste Management of San Diego achieved a compliance rate of 87 percent in advance of July 1, and Waste Management has committed on a statewide level to complete the total emission reduction program well ahead of the state-mandated schedule.

According to Susan Smartt, Executive Director for the California League of Conservation Voters, “Waste Management has been the industry leader in advancing technologies that greatly reduce air emissions from heavy-duty trucks. They are one of only a few companies that has supported stringent regulations to reduce vehicular emissions, and their large fleet of natural gas trucks is further evidence of this commitment.”

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