A landfill in East St. Louis will soon begin full operations of a facility that converts waste emissions into natural gas. The landfill operator will sell the gas they produce to Ameren Illinois, which can be used to heat homes.
There’s a network of pipes underneath the Milam Landfill in East St. Louis. When organic matter decomposes, it gives off methane and carbon dioxide, but this landfill has built a facility to collect and compress the emissions into the type of gas people use to heat their homes.
During a tour of the facility, Illinois EPA Director Lisa Bonnet says it should be a model for other waste companies.
“We’re running out of landfill space. Illinois has about 20 years of overall landfill space left. We need to think about how we can use the waste we’re generating, and how we can conserve space and use what’s being generated in our landfills.”
Waste Management received a 2.4 million dollar grant from the state of Illinois to fund the project.