Today, in celebration of Earth Day, we’re highlighting several company achievements in providing for environmental sustainability. We collectively refer to these activities as GILLIG Green initiatives.
Our mission is to design, build and support the safest and most reliable transit buses in the United States. Our products help reduce congestion, contribute to a cleaner environment, and provide mobility to all. We aim to build clean transit buses in a sustainable manner. Over the past year, we’ve made considerable progress with our clean-energy products, “green” manufacturing improvements and company efforts to reduce our carbon footprint.
GILLIG’s second-generation battery electric bus is now in service in cities across the nation with more agencies taking delivery and placing orders every week. The zero-emission bus was designed and built on GILLIG’s proven low floor platform to maximize fleet commonality for our customers. We transferred design best practices from our buses that are powered by other clean propulsion systems. GILLIG buses are built to operate more efficiently and with reusable technologies, which help lower greenhouse gases. We are also partnering with companies to establish recycling programs for the batteries in our electric bus and seeking opportunities to reduce the number of wear components in our systems to eliminate waste.
Last month, we announced that we have added a three-megawatt, 7,800 solar panel system to our headquarters facility. With completion expected this year, the installation is one of the largest rooftop installations in the San Francisco Bay Area. Energy from the system helps offset our energy used in manufacturing and the charging of battery electric buses. In addition, our facility provides for energy conservation through high-efficiency lighting, 100 percent recycled water for ground watering, employee electric vehicle charging stations, and renewable gas utilization.
We also continue to implement production process improvements to further our sustainable manufacturing goals and eliminate waste. We implemented bulk fluid dispensing systems which eliminated four tons of single-use cartridges from entering landfills every year. We upgraded paint equipment and processes which reduced the frequency of paint booth filter changeouts, resulting in a reduction of landfill waste by approximately nine tons annually. We have also worked with our suppliers to increase the use of returnable packaging and consolidate shipments to reduce truck freight. Also, in our packaging, we are utilizing recycled cardboard and have nearly removed all plastic from packaging.
Earth Day is an opportunity for us all to reflect on what we can do to provide for a healthier planet. Every day we contribute to greener living is a day of progress. GILLIG is proud to do its part as a responsible corporate citizen to provide for sustainability through its business pursuits and through its operating principles.