Waste Management recently celebrated the opening of its 100th natural gas fueling station in Oklahoma City and  its milestone of operating 6,000 natural gas trucks, the largest heavy-duty fleet of its kind in North America.

Waste Management has used natural gas in its fleet since the early 1990s, and it achieved its goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions and improving the efficiency of its on-road fleet efficiency by 15 percent by 2020 nine years early in 2011.

“Waste Management’s mission is to maximize resource value, while minimizing environmental impact so that our customers, our company, our economy and our environment can thrive,” said Jim Trevathan, Waste Management executive vice president and CEO, in a statement. “Today’s milestone is certainly a stellar example of this, and we’re proud to be the leader in the adoption of natural gas for our heavy-duty fleet and we plan to do even more!”

The trucks in Waste Management’s fleet are powered by compressed natural gas, which allows the trucks to emit nearly zero particulate emissions, cut greenhouse gas emissions and maintain a quiet ride. In addition, the fleet is designed to connect to the company’s fueling systems at its 100 locations around North America, allowing trucks to be refueled via a slow overnight fueling process.