Proterra becomes the first EV maker to earn multiple zero-waste certifications

Burlingame, California-based Proterra, which designs and manufactures electric transit buses and electric charging systems, today announced that it has become the first EV maker to achieve multiple TRUE-certified zero waste facilities. That distinction got the stamp of approval from Green Business Certification Inc (GBCI), which independently recognizes excellence in green business industry performance and practice globally.

Proterra gets certified for zero waste

The Total Resource Use and Efficiency, or TRUE, rating system helps facilities measure, improve, and recognize zero-waste performance by encouraging the adoption of sustainable waste management and reduction practices,

In order to achieve TRUE certification, a company has to have a zero-waste policy in place. It also has to have achieved an average of 90% or greater overall diversion from landfill, incineration (waste-to-energy), and the environment for solid, non-hazardous wastes for the most recent 12 months. It must reduce, reuse, recycle, compost, and/or recover materials for productive use in nature or the economy. Further, it has to meet all federal, state, and local laws and regulations, and it must document and submit all waste diversion data.

Proterra’s Silicon Valley Technology Center in Burlingame (pictured above) and East Coast electric bus manufacturing plant in Greenville, South Carolina, both achieved TRUE’s gold-level certification this year.

In December 2021, Proterra announced it would open a battery factory in Greer, South Carolina, with operations planned to begin in the second half of this year to begin producing “multiple GWh of annual battery system production capacity.”

Read more: Proterra announces third US battery factory planned for South Carolina, its first on the east coast

Photo: Proterra

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