GREENSBORO, N.C. — Volvo Trucks North America, Inc.’s New River Valley plant (NRV) has received the Commonwealth of Virginia’s highest environmental award for manufacturers. The plant is located in Dublin, Va.

NRV received the 2005 Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award for Manufacturers – Gold Level for its environmental programs on Sept. 14 at a ceremony in Richmond. The award encourages excellence in environmental management by recognizing companies that go beyond regulatory compliance toward environmental stewardship.

“Everyone at Volvo is very proud of NRV’s great accomplishment,” said Peter Karlsten, president and CEO. “Environmental care is one of the three core values that guides Volvo in its product design and operations. We always strive to minimize our environmental impact, to protect our communities and to be the environmental leader in our industry.”

Since 2000, NRV has made substantial changes in its chemical use and industrial processes, while undergoing a major expansion and substantially increased production. According to officials, during this period, NRV:

-Eliminated heavy metals in basecoat color paint; all paints are now free of lead and chrome.

-Eliminated chromium in the cab phosphate process (a precursor step to electrocoating the cab).

-Eliminated hazardous air pollutants in paint purge solvent.

-Instituted water recycling for the cab leak testing process, with a 33 per cent reduction in plant-wide water use.

-Implemented an energy management program, which reduced electricity use by 19.6 per cent and natural gas consumption by 20 per cent, and yielded significant cost savings.

-Reduced landfill waste per truck produced by more than 30 per cent.

-Reduced VOC (volatile organic compounds) emissions per truck produced from 23.8 pounds per truck to 12.5 pounds per truck – a 52.5 per cent decrease.

-Recycled 100 per cent of process wastewater for use in plant, approximately 50,000 gallons per day.

The Governor’s Environmental Excellence Awards were established in 1995 through a partnership of the Governor’s office, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the Virginia Manufacturers Association. The award program was established to recognize manufacturers in Virginia who exhibit exceptional environmental stewardship and who have documented the success of their programs.