COQUITLAM, BC – Progressive Waste Solutions (PWC) has opened a new natural gas fueling station facility in Coquitlam, B.C., to service its fleet of waste and recycling collection vehicles – the largest such fleet in Canada powered by natural gas.

“Our announcement today demonstrates our commitment to being a leader in the waste services sector, providing our customers the best service in the most sustainable way possible,” said Grant Hankins, district manager for Progressive Waste Solutions. “We are proud to have the largest fleet of natural gas powered waste and recycling collection vehicles in British Columbia and Canada.”

Last year, PWC announced a corporate initiative to convert its waste and recycling collection fleet from diesel to natural gas power. Since then it has added nearly 250 natural gas-powered trucks, for a total of 400 natural gas powered-vehicles in 11 different markets throughout North America.

Progressive Waste Solutions typically purchases 300 to 400 trucks a year and is on track to have up to 55% of the total number of vehicles it replaces annually in Canada and the U.S. fuelled by CNG. By 2019, the company expects 18-20% of its fleet to be powered by natural gas.

In the cities of Coquitlam and Surrey areas, the company operates 77 waste and recycling collection trucks powered by compressed natural gas (CNG).

“We’re pretty proud to have this natural gas fuelling station right here in Coquitlam, fuelling the trucks that serve our residents,” said Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart. “Natural gas provides many benefits over other fuels; it’s a progressive fuel choice that we’re happy to embrace for our waste collection.”

The trucks are powered by technology developed by Cummins Westport of Vancouver and fueled with natural gas from FortisBC.