San Francisco, California – Plans have been announced for a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in California that will be the world’s largest plant for converting landfill gas into clean vehicle fuel. The plant, a joint venture of Waste Management and gas and engineering firm Linde North America, will be located at the Altamont Landfill near Livermore, California.

The project offers a unique opportunity to “close the loop” by fuelling hundreds of trash collection trucks with clean fuel produced from garbage. When the facility begins operating in 2009, it will be able to produce up to 13,000 gallons of LNG per day.

“This project will allow us to tap into a valuable source of clean energy while greatly reducing our dependence on fossil fuels,” said Duane Woods, senior vice president for Waste Management. “Natural gas is already the cleanest-burning fuel available for our collection trucks, and the opportunity to use recovered landfill gas offers enormous environmental benefits to the communities we serve.”

The US$15 million project will receive grant assistance from the California Integrated Waste Management Board, the California Air Resources Board, and the South Coast Air Quality Management District.