Efforts to improve waste management
Norfolk Southern in 2015 completed the second year of an ongoing review to track and improve data collection and management of its business waste streams – a challenging task encompassing hundreds of work locations across 22 states.
For the year, NS reduced total waste generated by 6 percent – a desired outcome. However, data collection indicated that a higher percentage of waste than in 2014 was sent to landfills, which NS is reviewing. In particular, NS is interested in increasing “blue bin” recycling rates at offices, yard, shop, and field facilities. In 2015, only 6 percent of such trash, including cans, bottles, and paper, was recycled.
NS has formed a task force that is exploring opportunities to expand recycling, minimize waste, and reduce costs associated with waste management. The company in 2016 is evaluating third-party waste management services to apply lessons learned from data collected over the past two years.
