Archaea Energy and Waste Connections have opened their first renewable natural gas (RNG) plant in Pennsylvania. The plant is adjacent to the Bethlehem Landfill in Lower Saucon Township owned by a Waste Connections subsidiary and came online in July.
"We are safely and efficiently scaling up at pace and building momentum with this new plant in Bethlehem," Archaea Energy CEO Starlee Sykes said. "Archaea has brought six plants online to date in 2024, and we're proud to continue to bring our commitment to capture landfill emissions and provide customers with lower-emission, lower-carbon fuel to the Keystone State."
The Bethlehem Landfill plant can process up to 3,500 standard cubic feet of landfill gas per minute (scfm) into RNG – enough gas to heat more than 14,000 homes annually, according to the EPA's Landfill Gas Energy Benefits Calculator.
The Bethlehem Landfill plant converts landfill gas, a natural byproduct of the decomposition of waste, collected from the landfill into RNG, the use of which can lead to local air quality benefits and an increase and diversity of domestic energy production, according to the US EPA.
The partnership with Archaea and Waste Connections spans several years. In addition to the new RNG plant in Pennsylvania, Archaea owns and operates RNG plants adjacent to landfills owned by Waste Connections in Nebraska, New York, and Oklahoma. The companies also have plants that convert landfill gas to electricity in Washington, Colorado, and Oregon.
