GFL, Opal Fuels celebrate Arbor Hills Landfill RNG facility opening

GFL Environmental Inc., Vaughn, Ontario, among the largest diversified environmental services companies in North America, and Opal Fuels Inc., a White Plains, New York-based producer and distributor of renewable natural gas (RNG) and renewable energy, have announced that they have completed construction of their new RNG production facility, Emerald RNG.

The companies hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 12 to mark the occasion at GFL’s Arbor Hills landfill in Michigan, where the facility is located.

“The completion of construction of the largest of our landfill gas to RNG projects is an important step for GFL toward achieving our ambition for a low-carbon future,” GLF founder and CEO Patrick Dovigi says. “This RNG project advances our own sustainability goals by reducing GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions from both our landfills and our fleet, as well as the goals of our customers, by avoiding emissions through the beneficial reuse of RNG to displace virgin fuel applications.”

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The Arbor Hills Landfill facility is the first of two previously announced RNG projects to be developed via a joint venture between the companies at landfills owned by affiliates of GFL. The second project, located in North Carolina, is expected to commence commercial operations next year. GFL and Opal Fuels also are pursuing renewable energy projects at seven other landfill sites that are in various stages of development.

“This successful joint venture with GFL reflects our continued focus on growth—expanding RNG production to ultimately bring more renewable fuel supply online, while simultaneously providing GFL’s heavy-duty transportation fleets with a fuel source that’s cleaner than fossil fuels at no additional cost,” Opal Fuels co-CEO Adam Comora says. “RNG is a here-and-now solution to address the impacts of climate change and is a sought-after source of renewable energy.”

The Emerald RNG facility will capture naturally occurring biogas from the decomposition of organic material at the landfill and refine it into RNG. The facility has a nameplate capacity of 10,000 standard cubic feet per minute (SCFM) of landfill gas and is expected to produce more than 2.5 metric million British thermal units (MMBtu) or almost 20 million gasoline gallon equivalents (GGE) of RNG annually.

Landfill gas to RNG facilities provide a proven solution to reduce emissions across the transportation network, resulting in lower GHG emissions at the landfill and displacing diesel fuel with a low-carbon fuel alternative. The RNG produced by the plant will help avoid GHG emissions equivalent to achieving zero Scope 1 emissions from more than 1,500 heavy-duty trucks each year and will be used, in part, to power a portion of GFL’s U.S. compressed natural gas fleet.