Waste Management achieves benchmark in converting landfill gas at Milam Renewable Natural Gas Facility
FAIRMONT CITY — Waste Management of Illinois says it has converted more than two billion cubic feet of landfill gas into clean-burning natural gas at its Milam Renewable Natural Gas facility.
The gas converted at the facility outside St. Louis is injected into Ameren Illinois pipelines and used to heat home or to fuel truck fleets that run on clean-burning, compressed natural gas. The plant currently provides enough natural gas to fuel more than 400 compressed natural gas vehicles and heat more than 6,000 homes in Illinois every year.
The Milam Renewable Natural Gas Facility opened in 2014 and hit 12,000 hours of run time in its first two years of operation. The facility is Waste Management’s third plant to convert landfill gas to natural gas. The facility is the first of its kind in Illinois.
“The Milam Renewable Natural Gas facility is one of more than 100 projects on Waste Management landfills that uses landfill gas to produce renewable gas, generate energy, and displace fossil fuels,” said Jonathan Wheeler, Milam’s plant manager. “This facility is able to further process the landfill gas to produce pipeline-quality natural gas. This is the same natural gas that fuels Waste Management of Illinois growing fleet of over 200 natural gas vehicles.” As a company, Waste Management fleet includes 5,523 natural gas vehicles, the largest of its kind in the waste industry.
The natural gas produced at the Milam Renewable Natural Gas facility is a renewable source of energy endorsed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as an alternative to fossil fuels. Like wind and solar power, landfill gas is a natural resource that can be harnessed to produce green energy and has many benefits and advantages compared to fossil fuels and other alternative sources. Use of this near-zero carbon fuel eliminates nearly 30,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
About Waste Management
Waste Management, based in Houston, Texas, is the leading provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America. Through its subsidiaries, the company provides collection, transfer, recycling and resource recovery, and disposal services. It is also a leading developer, operator and owner of landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. The company’s customers include residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers throughout North America. Visit www.wm.com or www.thinkgreen.com.
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