ROADWAY EXPRESS WINS ENVIRONMENTAL AWARD FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS
AKRON, Ohio -- September 17, 1999 -- During an awards ceremony at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 9, an announcement was made by American Trucking Associations (ATA) that Roadway Express, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROAD) was selected as the winner of the annual Environmental Excellence in Trucking award for 1999. This award is sponsored by the ATA and Safety-Kleen Corp.
"Environmental awareness is a high priority of Roadway Express and we are proud to accept this award," stated Dennis McMickens, Director of Safety for Roadway. "With the commitment of employees and management, the Company has developed and implemented successful environmental programs that involve working closely with community organizations. We will continue to seek new opportunities that will protect the environment and support communities."
Two new Roadway waste reduction practices are innovative and unique pollution prevention programs. These programs have succeeded in diverting materials from being disposed to being donated to not-for-profit agencies. This has turned paint waste into energy; reduced the amount of waste classified as hazardous; and reduced waste disposal costs for the nationwide less-than-truckload (LTL) motor carrier.
About 6 percent of all materials the Company ships are chemical products, and a large portion of those are paint and paint-related products. "That's why both new programs targeted paint shipments," said Leona Bowser, a Roadway emergency response specialist.
Roadway's newest endeavor to minimize waste was rolled out in March. According to Bowser, the goal of the Company is to create environmentally sensitive projects, which provide economic benefits to both the carrier and the community. The Donation Program involves partnering with community organizations to give away paint and paint-related materials, lamp oil, cooking spray and other products deemed unacceptable by a shipper or consignee.
FLARE, a Buffalo, N.Y., city-affiliated agency that helps low-income families fix up their homes, and Christmas in April, a national not-for-profit agency that performs home repairs for the poor, elderly and handicapped, are among the organizations that have benefited from these efforts.
In the Donation Program, unaccepted products that previously would have been classified as hazardous and disposed of according to EPA regulations are now given away, according to Lori Leonti, Roadway's environmental compliance and hazardous waste coordinator. Leonti developed the program after gaining first-hand experience with such shipments. "I knew what we did with cartons that had nowhere else to go, and I simply suggested we give them to people who can use them.
"If the lid on one paint can in a carton leaks during shipping, the shipper and consignee occasionally will refuse the whole carton even though three of four cans may have no damage. Instead of disposing of those full cans of paint, which we often have to treat as hazardous waste, we now give them away," stated Leonti. "We're not only helping others, we're reducing the amount of hazardous waste we generate and our waste disposal costs."
This Donation Program also saves money for the partnering organizations. The paint donated to Christmas in April would have cost about $2,100 to purchase, and the paint products donated to FLARE were worth about $600.
Compass House, a United Way agency in Buffalo received paint and stain from the Donation Program. "These are products our agency can put to good use," said Thom Piniewski, Compass House Director of Operations. "Roadway's efforts to make available such gifts enable us to provide more assistance to our clients. All their work in putting this together is very much appreciated."
The Paint Consolidation Program was successfully tested at Roadway's breakbulk terminal in Carlisle, Penn., in 1997. It has since been expanded to 10 other breakbulks, or hub facilities.
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