Southeastern Michigan landfill to add 22-MW methane-burning electric power plant in January

Tracy McDonald

LENOX TOWNSHIP, Michigan , December 27, 2011 (Associated Press) – Southeastern Michigan will have one of the region's largest waste-to-energy projects when a Macomb County landfill adds a new methane-burning electric power plant in January.

The two Waste Management Inc. plants at Pine Tree Acres in Macomb County's Lenox Township will produce 22 megawatts of electricity.

"Trash has become a fuel source," company Vice President Tom Horton told the Detroit Free Press. "There are lots of ideas out there."

Waste Management has 141 landfill gas projects, nine in Michigan. Four of the projects provide power directly to industrial plants, including Ford Motor Co.'s Wayne stamping and assembly plants and General Motors Co.'s Orion assembly plant. Another provides landfill gas to Zeeland Farms to dry soybeans.

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