Mack Trucks was among seven companies recognized this week by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for achieving significant greenhouse gas reductions through EPA's Climate Leaders program.


Mack was honored by EPA at the annual Climate Leaders Partners Meeting in Chicago.

In 2004, as part of the Climate Leaders program, Mack pledged to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its operations by 20 percent per unit produced by 2010, using 2003 as a base. As a result of implementing numerous energy efficiency projects, in 2007 Mack not only met, but exceeded its reduction goal -- three years ahead of the 2010 target date.

"We take support of environmental improvement efforts in our society very seriously," said Dennis Slagle, Mack president and CEO. "Environmental care is a corporate core value for Mack and it influences our business decisions, from product and service offerings to how we operate our facilities. Our commitment to the goals of Climate Leaders was a natural choice for the company to make."

Climate Leaders is an industry-government partnership that works with companies to develop comprehensive climate change strategies. Partner companies commit to reducing their impact on the global environment by completing a corporate-wide inventory of their greenhouse gas emissions based on a quality management system, setting aggressive reduction goals, and annually reporting their progress to EPA. Through program participation, companies create a credible record of their accomplishments and receive EPA recognition as corporate environmental leaders.

From 2003 to 2007, Mack reduced GHG emissions by 32 percent per unit built and, during that same time, achieved a 25 percent reduction in total GHG emissions. A major focus for Mack was improving energy efficiency at its manufacturing operations: the Hagerstown, Md., Powertrain plant; Macungie, Pa., Assembly Operation; and Middletown, Pa., Remanufacturing Center.

Mack's manufacturing plants undertook a variety of energy efficiency related projects, including installing more efficient lighting; upgrading boilers to natural gas, biodiesel and other vegetable based oils; installing building automation systems to control lighting and HVAC systems; installing heat recovery systems on paint booth ovens; and replacing old equipment and tools with more energy efficient versions.

The other six companies honored for achieving their greenhouse gas reduction goals were 3M, Pfizer, Hasbro, Caterpillar, FPL Group and Sun Microsystems.

Mack recently announced that the company would continue its commitment as a Climate Leaders Program Partner, pledging to reduce emissions an additional 12 percent per unit produced through 2012. Mack is also exploring additional clean energy generation technologies and continued deployment of energy efficiency projects across the company.