Sunshine Canyon Landfill deploys biocover technology trial

Windfall Bio’s biocover uses natural microbes to mitigate odor and methane emissions.

bulldozer working in a landfill

Perytskyy | stock.adobe.com

Windfall Bio, a San Mateo, California-based provider of methane-to-value solutions, reports its nature-based solution is being deployed in a field trial at Republic Services’ Sunshine Canyon Landfill in Sylmar, California.

To study methane reductions at the landfill, Windfall says it applied natural soil microbes known as mems directly to the landfill cover. Mems consume methane—a powerful greenhouse gas (GHG)—while also removing volatile organic compounds (VOCs), hydrogen sulfide and other odorants that occur in landfill gas. This approach is expected to improve local air quality and reduce the overall climate impact from landfill emissions.

"Together with Sunshine Canyon Landfill, we identified Windfall for this field trial, being a promising solution to tackle both landfill odor and air quality concerns," says Eugene Tseng, technical advisor to the Sunshine Canyon Landfill Local Enforcement Agency. "We look forward to the benefits this will have for the local community.”

Through a collaborative effort, Sunshine Canyon Landfill and the Sunshine Canyon Landfill Local Enforcement Agency identified Windfall’s biocover technology as a potential solution to mitigate environmental impacts from landfill operations. Windfall says its biocover technology provides landfills with a simple solution to reduce surface emissions by capturing methane, VOCs and other compounds directly in the landfill cover.

“We are excited to demonstrate how a mem-based biocover can meaningfully reduce landfill odor and methane emissions, improving local air quality for the community while also benefiting the global climate,” says Josh Silverman, co-founder and CEO of Windfall Bio. “Windfall is committed to uncovering new applications for mems, and we are thrilled to be working with the innovative team at Sunshine Canyon Landfill that’s advancing industry standards. Windfall is eager to provide an effective, scalable and economic solution.”

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Sunshine Canyon Landfill is committed to environmental stewardship and employs advanced technologies to manage waste and mitigate environmental impacts, according to its operator Republic Services, Pheonix. The landfill features a highly engineered containment system and operates a landfill gas-to-energy project that generates renewable electricity. Republic Services has also implemented numerous initiatives to restore and preserve the surrounding land, including planting thousands of oak trees and creating recreational areas.

“By implementing innovative solutions like Windfall’s mems, we can address air quality concerns utilizing approaches that are new to the municipal solid waste industry,” says Michael Stewart, general manager of Sunshine Canyon Landfill. “We remain committed to embracing solutions for better environmental management of landfills for our local communities.”

The field trial, now underway, will be evaluated in the coming months, Windfall says. To meet customer demand, Windfall says it continues to expand deployments across the agriculture, oil and gas and waste management sectors to further validate the robustness of its methane-to-value solution for other industrial use cases.

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