Closing the Loop: Fueling Trucks with the Organic Waste They Pick Up

When you placed your food waste at the curb last time, did you consider the journey it’s about to take? You could find it coming back down your street the next month as the fuel in the truck that picks up that week’s organic waste. That’s closer to Doc’s “flux capacitor” from the 1985 movie Back to the Future than most people ever imagined – and the fuel is powering trucks on American roads and around the world right now.

Biogas, or natural gas from organic sources, has been used for decades and was recognized as a renewable source for electricity. In the intervening years, natural gas fuel stations and the natural gas vehicle base has expanded, opening up the market for renewable natural gas (RNG) use in transportation.

Refuse operations across North America are embracing the opportunity to fuel trucks with the very waste they pick up. The RNG created with processed organic matter such as food scraps (or in other cases landfill gas) can power trucks equipped with a natural gas engine such as Cummins Westport ISX 12G or ISL G engines.

In North America, fleets and energy partnerships from Georgia to Quebec to California are embracing the concept, saving waste and money in the process. The vehicles operating on RNG from organic sources include refuse or sanitation trucks, pickup trucks, utility vehicles, and tractors.

The Columbus, Ohio quasar biodigestion facility

Kroger Announces Delivery of First LNG Trucks

The Kroger Co. and its division of Fred Meyer Stores, marked the delivery of the first 11 Freightliner trucks, which will be fueled by liquefied natural gas, at a press conference in Clackamas, in the Greater Portland area, on December 4, 2014. The new LNG trucks will replace 40 diesel trucks currently in use, and will deliver product from Corvallis, Ore., and as far north as Longview, Washington.

“The trucks are out there running now and they’re doing well,” says Fred Meyer Fleet Manager Nick Brocato. “They are delivering a variety of loads -- everything and anything that Fred Meyer Stores offer.”

Each of Fred Meyers’ new LNG trucks will drive approximately 175 miles (282 km) per day, six days a week, 52 weeks a year, delivering products along routes which run from Corvallis, Ore., to Longview, Washington.

Truckloads of Toys for Girls and Boys with DFW Toys for Tots

Westport Dallas is filling stockings for less fortunate children this holiday season by working with our vehicle “Stocking Program” business and community partners to collect new, unwrapped toys December 1st through 12th for the Dallas Forth Worth Toys for Tots program.

Westport and local Dallas partners – All Size Supply Co., Stealth Industry, General Truck Body Manufacturing Company, and Pro Staff Administrative & Light Industrial Staffing – are collecting toys for the program. We’re challenging other partners, suppliers and natural gas industry groups to make this holiday season a happier time for their communities.

Please help Toys for Tots to bring toys to less fortunate kids by holding a toy drive at your location, or by donating a new, unwrapped toy at Westport Dallas, one of our partner locations, or any Toys for Tots drop box location.