A new $25 million facility at the Outagamie County landfill will produce natural gas. It could help the smell, too.
LITTLE CHUTE - A new $25 million facility will convert greenhouse gases produced at the Outagamie County landfill into renewable energy.
The county's Recycling and Solid Waste department has partnered with Atlanta-based Mas Energy to build the renewable natural gas processing facility.
"This partnership goes a long way in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions," County Executive Tom Nelson told The Post-Crescent.
Expected to be operating by October, the facility will collect methane from the landfill and convert it into compressed natural gas.
The gas will then be fed into a pipeline and distributed across the county to be used primarily by fleet vehicles such as buses and garbage trucks that typically use diesel fuel.
"It's a cleaner fuel and, when consumed, it's classified as renewable, so it's a very good alternative to diesel," Mas Energy Managing Director Richard Crowther said.
Mas Energy paid for the plant's $25 million construction and will manage it. Crowther said Mas Energy will hire around six local employees and expects the facility to run for at least 20 years.
As part of the partnership, Outagamie County will receive royalties from Mas Energy's gross sale of the renewable gas.
Outagamie County Recycling and Solid Waste Director Brian Van Straten said the money will help keep curbside pickup free for residents. That cost is currently supported through tipping fees, or a charge per ton for waste to be disposed into the landfill.
"Our revenue portion of what we are anticipated to make off this partnership is to stabilize tipping fees for all 32 municipalities long-term," Van Straten said.
The new facility could also help manage the landfill's odor. The methane it'll collect is created from decomposing organic waste, which causes the landfill's smell.
"We have a value in that methane, so we have an incentive to make sure that we collect it all and that helps manage the odors," Crowther said.
The new facility is replacing the cogeneration plant that was decommissioned in December 2020.
Before its decommission, the plant converted 70% of the landfill's methane into electricity and heat, producing power for 4,500 homes in Outagamie County since 1991.
But with the rise of solar and wind power, the county began receiving lower rates for its gas energy from WPPI Energy, Van Straten said.
Since the cogeneration plant was decommissioned, the county has been flaring off the landfill's natural gas, in compliance with federal and state air emission regulations.
"Solar and wind renewable electricity is much more capital-efficient now," Crowther said. "We're better off making renewable gas now from an economic standpoint."
Sophia Voight is a watchdog reporter for The Post-Crescent and can be reached at svoight@postcrescent.com. Follow her on Twitter @sophia_voight.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: New Outagamie County landfill plant to turn methane into natural gas
