Landfill Turned Clean Energy

More than two decades ago the largest recycling company in North America launched ‘landfill to gas-to-energy technology.’ Monday they brought the Green Energy to our area.

Waste Management Suburban Landfill celebrated the opening of its new gas-to-energy plant in Glenford. This is Waste Management’s 5th renewable energy project in Ohio but only their first gas-to-electric plant.

Area Vice President of Waste Management Denise Gretz said, "We’re doing a lot more than just managing waste – increasingly we are managing the resources in waste in ways that extract the best value."

As waste naturally decomposes, it produces landfill gas which can be captured and used as a green energy source. The gas that is generated is collected and pumped through engines to produce electricity. The electricity generated goes into the electrical power grid through South Central Power. The new plant is designed to generate 6.4 mega-watts of electricity, that’s enough to power 5,000 homes.

Director of Renewable Energy Dave Ungersaid, "This is a project where you have local waste coming to a landfill and the landfill is selling the power back to the community where it hits the grid."

Waste Management Suburban Landfill accepts waste from Perry, Licking and Muskingum Counties. The company creates enough energy to power more than one million homes and hopes to double that amount by 2020.