NS announces first Thoroughbred Sustainability Award winners

Norfolk Southern Railway yesterday announced the recipients of its inaugural Thoroughbred Sustainability Awards, which recognize customers and suppliers for being leaders in energy efficiency, innovation and environmental stewardship.

This year, NS recognized 15 companies based on their programs' novelty, relevance and impact, NS officials said in a press release.

The honorees' achievements include:

• diverting 17 million pounds of waste from landfills;
• avoiding more than 500,000 metric tons of carbon emissions;
• eliminating 5.2 million miles of diesel-fuel burn annually;
• achieving a 30% reduction in fuel consumption, saving 225,000 gallons annually; and
• removing abandoned fishing nets and lines in the ocean and converting them to auto parts, mitigating some of the estimated 700,000 tons of fishing gear discarded annually.

NS will honor the winners at a ceremony to be held next month in Atlanta, where the Class I is headquartered.

"Sustainability is embedded in every facet of our organization, including helping our customers reduce their supply-chain emissions," said NS Chief Sustainability Officer Josh Raglin. "The more we encourage and recognize our stakeholders for their collaboration with partners, the quicker we will all achieve measurable progress toward our shared sustainability goals."