Converting landfill gas to energy.


Waste Management operates the largest network of landfills in our industry, with nearly 300 sites managing the disposal of millions of tons of waste per year. This provides us with a vast supply of a natural, renewable energy source: landfill gas, or methane. This gas, which is created naturally through the decomposition of waste in landfills, is a readily available, renewable energy source that can be collected and used directly as medium btu gas for industrial use or sold to gas-to energy plants to fuel engine or turbine driven generators of electricity. Landfill gas has lived up to its promise of being a reliable and economical form of energy.

In fact, the EPA has endorsed landfill gas as an environmentally wise alternative energy resource that reduces our reliance on fossil fuels like coal and oil. Over the years, we have worked closely with businesses, industries and public utilities to develop many beneficial-use projects from landfill gas. We currently supply landfill gas to nearly 100 beneficial-use gas projects in North America, providing more than 270 megawatts of energy-enough to power approximately 240,000 homes-and replacing nearly three million barrels of oil per year.

Like wind and solar power, landfill gas is a natural resource that can be harnessed to produce clean energy. Waste Management's landfill gas-to-energy program is a vital and important part of North America's drive to develop alternative energy sources and promote environmental sustainability.

Waste Management’s renewable energy projects produce enough electricity to power more than 800,000 homes and save the equivalent of about 8.2 million barrels of oil per year. At Waste Management’s Altamont Landfill in Livermore, Calif., landfill gas is used to generate about 9 megawatts of electric energy, enough to power about 9,000 homes.

Learn more about our Gas to Energy initiatives:

• Palmetto Landfill
• Sainte-Sophie Landfill