Renewable natural gas focus of $35M Tontitown project
July 18, 2023 at 5:35 a.m.
by John Magsam
WM, formerly known as Waste Management, has started operations at a new $35 million renewable natural gas facility in Tontitown.
The nearly 14,500-square-foot facility is at Texas-based WM’s Eco Vista landfill. The project generated 125 construction jobs and will employ four workers to oversee its operations. It took two years to complete and officially began operations in late May, according to a company spokesman.
WM has about 20 such projects under development, including the Tontitown Eco Vista renewable natural gas facility. The company intends to invest more than $1 billion on renewable energy projects between 2022 and 2026.
The Tontitown facility will recover and then distribute natural gas produced by the decomposition of organic material from the Eco Vista landfill. Eco Vista gathers the gas, processes it and distributes it via the Energy Transfer’s Enable Gas Transmission pipeline system, according to the company.
It will recover and distribute enough natural gas equal to serving 25,000 households annually or to power nearly 650 heavy duty vehicles, the company said. Some of the renewable natural gas recovered at the new facility is earmarked for use in company’s U.S. fleet of vehicles that run on compressed natural gas in the United States.
“WM is proud to invest in the vibrant Northwest Arkansas region with this state-of-the-art renewable natural gas facility …,” Eddie McManus, Mid-South area vice president for WM, said in a statement. “Landfills are a vital part of any community and it is essential that landfills continually invest in environmental stewardship. Eco Vista features nearly 300 acres of wildlife habitat and pollinator gardens.”
The landfill opened in 1979 and WM took ownership in 2000. It employs about 25 workers and includes nearly 300 acres in Wildlife Habitat Council certified wildlife habitat.
“This sustainable investment will be beneficial for the northwest region of our state and hopefully it will encourage other solid waste providers to seek out similar solutions,” Randy Zook, president and chief executive officer of the Arkansas State Chamber, said in a statement.
In 2022, WM saw annual revenue of $19.7 billion, up about 10% from $17.9 billion for the year-ago period. It booked profits of $5.29 per share for 2022, up from $4.29 cents per share for the prior year.
Shares of WM closed at $167.76, down 80 cents, in trading Monday on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares have traded as low as $148.31 and as high as $175.98 over the past year.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the company that would use the natural gas.
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