Dive Brief:

• Waste Management has announced it will build a new renewable energy plant in Fairmont City, Illinois.
• The $18.5 million facility will take landfill gas and produce compressed natural gas to be delivered by pipeline to other locations.
• The plant, expected to open next summer, will be capable of processing 3,500 standard cubic feet per minute of gas from the landfill.

Dive Insight:

Waste Management currently has 134 natural gas sites that produce enough electricity to power 500,000 homes, and has over 100 CNG vehicles in its fleet in Illinois. The amount of renewable gas produced at the plant will be enough to fuel 400 trucks daily. 

“This type of project represents an important alternative source of renewable energy that we provide straight from our landfills. While we are well known as a waste and recycling company, we’re also an energy company,” said Paul Pabor, vice president of renewable energy for Waste Management.