Powering towards a greener future

Little did she know that the educational visit, as a seven-year-old, would spark a lifelong passion for environmentalism that has led to a fulfilling career with one of the world’s leading power solution companies.

As Health, Safety and Environment Supervisor at the Cummins’ plant in Darlington, Megan, now 27, is playing a key role in advancing the site’s sustainability initiatives as part of the company’s “Destination Zero” strategy.

The aim is “to go further, faster – to reduce the greenhouse gas and air quality impacts of products and reach net-zero emissions by 2050, in a way that serves all stakeholders in a sustainable way for Cummins’ businesses”.

Health, Safety and Environment Supervisor Megan Kraszeski (Image: Cummins)

“It’s a very exciting time to be part of Cummins, and I’m proud of the progress being made on sustainability,” says Megan, who came to Darlington last year after being impressed by the company’s commitment to sustainability while on a two-year internship.

She laughs as she reflects on how far she’s come since that school trip sowed the seeds for what she wanted to do with her life.

“It really hit home with me,” she recalls. “We saw how waste was being disposed of, and the impact it has, so I went back and asked my parents to start recycling straight away. I’ve wanted to work in a way that helps the environment ever since.”

She found the perfect company to fit with her aspirations when she joined Cummins in 2018, having spent the previous two summers as an intern.

“I didn’t see myself going into manufacturing – my goal was to do something around environmental protection with the Government, but I saw in Cummins a global company that was passionate about sustainability,” she explains.

Her first official role, at 21, was as a Management Systems Analyst and she found herself liaising remotely with the team at Darlington. When a mentor told her about a vacancy for a HSE Adviser at the plant in the North East of England, she applied and was successful.

Within two months of flying nearly 4,000 miles to join the Darlington team, Megan had been promoted to HSE Supervisor and is a shining example of the worldwide opportunities on offer with Cummins.

Cummins looking to the future with a tour for young visitors (Image: Cummins)

“It was hard to leave home, but my parents were very supportive, and I’ve really enjoyed it. Cummins does a great job with the recruitment of young talent, creating an inclusive environment, and I’ve had so many mentors helping me to develop,” she says.

Megan describes the Destination Zero mission as the “next chapter in Cummins history” – a history that dates back to February 3, 1919, when visionary entrepreneur, Clessie Cummins, founded the company in Columbus, Indiana, and introduced a transformational era in diesel innovation.

The spirit of innovation continues to this day as Cummins places sustainability at the top of its agenda and leads the transition to global emissions.

In the company’s 2021-2022 Sustainability Progress Report, Chairman and CEO, Tom Linebarger, says: “Climate change is the existential crisis of our time. Climate-related catastrophes present a growing threat to the communities where we do business, and to our plants, facilities, supply chain, and customers around the world.

“Climate change is also the greatest threat to achieving our mission of making people’s lives better by powering a more prosperous world. The decarbonization of our economy is critical to our way of life, and our industry will play a key role in it.

“Our journey to zero emissions is also a growth opportunity for Cummins. We are confident in our ability to lead in bringing lower carbon technologies to commercial and industrial markets globally due to the unique capabilities Cummins has built over many years.”

Over the last 20 years, the company has reduced NOx (nitrogen oxides) and particulate matter emissions from today’s engines by more than 90 per cent, and that progress is continuing with a series of critical steps to address climate change in over the past 18 months, including:

• The announcement of a new 15-litre engine platform for heavy duty trucks, beginning with a natural gas version, and becoming available in a variety of fuels, from diesel to hydrogen. As well as offering leading power and performance, the platform will meet more stringent emissions regulations.
• £14m powertrain test facility at Darlington Site
• Passing the deployment of more than 2,000 fuel cells and building a new fuel cell systems production facility in Herten, Germany.
• Exceeding 500 buses with BEV (battery electric vehicle) technology and, this year, surpassing a million miles driven by Blue Bird’s Cummins-powered electric school buses since 2018.
• Beginning work on what will be one of the world’s largest electrolyzer production plants in Spain.

Cummins has also launched several key partnerships and acquisitions, including:

• A global strategic partnership to provide medium-duty powertrain systems for Daimler trucks and buses.
• An agreement with Iberdola, one of the world’s largest energy companies, on large-scale hydrogen production projects in Spain and Portugal.
• A letter of intent to acquire 50 per cent equity interest in Momentum Fuel Technologies from Rush Enterprises to produce Cummins-branded natural gas fuel delivery systems for the North America    commercial vehicle market.
• An agreement with Sion Power Corporation to design and supply battery cells, based on their proprietary lithium metal technology, for commercial vehicle applications.
• The formation of a 50:50 joint venture with Sinopec to form Cummins Enze, which will accelerate the affordability and availability of green hydrogen in China.

At the Darlington plant, Megan has launched three campus-wide environmental working groups, focusing on energy, waste and water. As well as high-level leadership representation, any employee can apply to join the groups, and some exciting ideas and initiatives have emerged.

For example, the waste group is investigating how leftover food from the canteen can be distributed to local charities, as well as stopping the single use of plastics.

Other local projects include:

• Plans to replace the use of natural gas on the site with electricity, with the technical centre already achieving that goal, and other parts of the plant gearing up to follow suit.
• Investigations into the use of solar panels.
• The Darlington site has been “zero to landfill” since 2015, with waste either being recycled, repurposed, or incinerated for energy recovery.
• The campus being fully converted to LED lighting.
• Electricity captured during engine testing in Darlington Technical Operations is captured and reused.

Cummins is also using its status as one of the North East’s most high profile companies to support the regeneration of the region as a partner in The Northern Echo’s “Level Up North East” campaign.

On September 29, the Darlington site will host the campaign’s fourth live event, entitled Powering the Journey to Net Zero. As well as featuring key speakers, the event will include a tour of the Cummins plant, providing a fascinating insight into one of the world’s most innovative engineering companies, here on our doorstep.

During World Environment Month in June, Cummins staff took part in an interactive ‘Smoothie bike’ challenge - using pedal power to blend a smoothie. (Image: Cummins)

With so many positive things happening, Megan is happy to commit her immediate future to working for Cummins in Darlington. She’s about to buy a house in the town and is looking to become a volunteer for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds at the Saltholme nature reserve on Teesside.

“Who knows what will happen, but I love what I’m doing and seeing the progress that’s being made here,” she says. “The passion for sustainability runs right through the company, from the leadership to the workforce, so I want to go on being part of that.”

From the inspiration of a primary school field trip in America, to uprooting to the north of England to help a global power leader make strides towards a greener future, it’s already been quite a journey.

• To find out more about Cummins in Darlington, go to cummins.com/eu/darlington-plant.

• Any business interested in becoming a partner of The Northern Echo’s Level Up campaign, please contact Ryan Fenwick at ryan.fenwick@localiq.co.uk.