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El Sobrante Landfill is a Class 3 regional disposal facility permitted to accept up to 10,000 tons per day, seven days per week. It employs approximately 40 full-time employees. Landfill operations are overseen by the California Integrated Waste Management Board, and the Riverside County Department of Environmental Health.
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A new state of the art landfill gas flare is now operating at Waste Management’s El Sobrante Landfill. The new landfill gas flare will replace an existing system of landfill gas flares that have been in operation since June of 1993.
We are one of the first in California to invest in this new gas flare technology, which will reduce NOX emissions by approximately 60 percent and carbon monoxide emissions by about 70 percent compared to a traditional landfill gas flare system. The $1.3 million investment, designed by John Zink, Inc., an industry leader in landfill emission control, is currently the best available technology in the market.
The new landfill gas flare is intended to meet El Sobrante Landfill’s needs for the next five years. The gas is extracted from the landfill by the use of a vacuum system that extracts landfill gas from approximately 160 vertical wells and horizontal collectors around the landfill and directs it to the flare where it is ignited and thermally destroyed. This process prevents landfill gas from being released into the air.
Not all of our gas is flared off. A substantial portion of it is channeled into our landfill gas-to-energy generators. These transform landfill gas into energy by harnessing and processing the collected gas to power three internal combustion engines. These generate approximately 3.84 megawatts of electricity, which is then fed directly into the local grid where it provides the energy needed to power the equivalent of 6,000 homes a year.
By converting waste gas into energy, El Sobrante Landfill is managing its waste in a more effective and efficient manner. The landfill gas is collected and processed in an environmentally responsible way and provides electricity, which would otherwise come from the use of fossil fuels. It’s an all around win-win partnership with the community; Waste Management is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, continuing to lead the way in renewable energy technology and being a good neighbor to its communities.
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