Since forming in 2013, Argent Materials, a San Francisco Bay Area recycler of concrete and asphalt, and supplier of aggregate such as crushed rock, entry, cutback, sand, backfill and base rock for construction projects, has diverted more than a billion pounds of waste from local landfills. As a result, Argent has offset more than 97 million pounds of carbon from the atmosphere and removed a half-million pounds of trash from the streets of Oakland, California.

Now, Argent has switched its fleet from petroleum diesel to Neste MY Renewable Diesel. After examining electric-driven solutions to the carbon and emissions footprint of Argent’s fleet, it became clear the best fit would be low-carbon, sustainable, bio-based renewable diesel fuel, primarily due to the rugged duty cycles of its trucks and equipment.

We decided to switch to renewable diesel once our quality and availability concerns were satisfied. Our environmental track record and continual efforts to help our customers build more sustainable communities played a major role in our decision to use renewable diesel in our fleet. It was just another element of our philosophy to not just do the right thing, but make doing the right thing a normal part of doing business.

—Bill Crotinger, president of Argent Materials Inc.<>/div>

Argent has a fleet of about 20 pieces of equipment comprising wheel loaders, excavators, bobcats and a couple of water trucks.

Our experience has been positive. There’s no change in engine performance. We absolutely love the renewable nature of this product. We have noticed that the exhaust appears cleaner and seems less toxic.

—Bill Crotinger

All of the renewable products Neste distributes in North America are made from 100% renewable and sustainably sourced waste materials such as used cooking oil, rendered fats and greases. These wastes come from meat processing facilities, hotels, restaurants, sports stadiums and many other venues with industrial kitchens.

With waste and residue as feedstock, the only “new” emissions occur during the production operations, which Neste aims to make carbon-neutral by 2035, and supply chain operations. Additionally, Neste is researching and developing a new generation of raw materials that could further enhance renewable diesel’s climate benefits—including municipal solid waste, algae, forestry waste and even converting electric power to liquids.

Neste MY Renewable Diesel is available to public and private fleets in California through authorized distributors. Western States Oil, headquartered in San Jose, Calif., is the exclusive distributor of Neste MY Renewable Diesel to Argent Materials.