Oct. 11, 2007 North America's largest provider of waste and environmental services says it will invest hundreds of millions of dollars over the next 12 years on a sweeping environmental initiative focused on developing new waste technologies and improving the company's environmental performance.

Speaking at the World Business Forum in New York, CEO David P. Steiner said the initiative will include investments in waste-based energy production, expanded materials recycling, fuel efficiency within its vehicle fleet, new waste technologies, and habitat protection.

The company expects that, by 2020, it will:

• Double its output of waste-based energy, such as power converted from methane gas
• Increase the volume of recyclable materials processed from 8 milion to 20 million tons
• Increase the fuel efficiency of its fleet by 15% and reduce fleet emissions by 15%
• Quadruple - from 24 to 100 - the number of landfill facilities certified by the Wildlife Habitat Council, and increase the number of acres set aside for conservation and wildlife habitat to about 25,000

The company says it will report publicly on its progress in each of these areas on a regular basis.

Steiner says the move will help the company's bottom line by differentiating it from its competitors. "By increasing our focus on the environment, we expect to better meet the needs of our customers, the communities we serve and our shareholders," he says. "We continue to evaluate all of these opportunities through the lens of maintaining our capital expenditures at approximately 10% of revenue and accomplishing our primary financial objectives, which include earnings growth, margin expansion and higher returns on invested capital."

Steiner shied away from putting an exact price tag on the plan, however. "I don't look at it as how much it's going to cost," Steiner told the Associated Press. "I look at it as how much it's going to return."