Staff Report
Published Nov. 2, 2009

Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp., based in Gaffney, is the first chassis manufacturer and first company in the trucking industry to achieve zero waste-to-landfill status in the United States.

Joining an elite group of solid waste-free manufacturing facilities in the United States, Freightliner went from disposing 250,000 pounds per month of solid waste in January 2007 to disposing zero pounds as a result of numerous environmental efforts implemented at the facility.

“Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp. easily surpassed our corporate goal by realizing zero waste-to-landfill status three months earlier than our original January 2010 target date,” said Roger Nielsen, chief operating officer of Daimler Trucks North America LLC, Freightliner’s parent company.

He added that the company would continue to look for ways to reduce its environmental impact, including with its products and its efforts to use alternative fuel.

The zero waste-to-landfill directive was initiated by Daimler AG to reduce the carbon footprint of manufacturing facilities under the Daimler umbrella. Freightliner’s manufacturing facility was chosen as the pilot site for the program in September 2007.

Nielsen said efforts undertaken by Freightliner will be used as an environmental blueprint to be implemented at other facilities.

The facility, which has been recognized by numerous governmental agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency, recycles materials such as plastic, paper, aluminum, cardboard, metals, wood and nylon.

Freightliner developed a “green team” that included employees who were committed to reducing the overall carbon footprint within the company and community.

Bob Harbin, president of Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp., said, “It’s the (green) team’s tenaciousness and foresight that enabled our company as a whole to work toward a healthier environment and a cleaner community.”