Waste Management (WM) and Terasen Gas are rolling out 20 new compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks to collect the city of Vancouver’s commercial recycling, food waste and garbage. This is part of a sustainability initiative from WM to convert their entire Lower Mainland and Metro Vancouver fleet – 100 recycling and waste collection trucks in total – to CNG. According to WM, the CNG trucks will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 23 percent and are quieter than traditional diesel engines.

“This initiative is all about clean air for the Lower Mainland and Metro Vancouver,” said Dean Kattler, vice president for Waste Management-BC and Pacific Northwest. “Transitioning to clean air trucks to serve Lower Mainland communities and businesses shows Waste Management is listening to our customers and championing BC’s bid to sustain its position as a world-class sustainability leader.”

The contribution from Terasen Gas helped offset the incremental cost of the clean air trucks. Terasen, which recently announced it will be renamed and operate under the brand name FortisBC, just completed construction of a state-of-the art CNG fueling station at the Waste Management site at Coquitlam, where the trucks will fuel up.

“With significantly lower emissions and lower fuel costs, natural gas vehicles have a role in helping BC meet its environmental goals,” said Doug Stout, vice president, Energy Solutions and External Relations at Terasen Gas and FortisBC. “Our collaboration with Waste Management is an excellent opportunity to showcase the technology in the region where it is developed and encourage greater adoption of natural gas for transportation.”