HASTINGS, Neb. – The city of Hastings is continuing the process of forming a partnership with a Chicago-based clean energy company to reduce its landfill emissions in what can be called a win-win for both sides.

"Our purpose for being is to reduce the life cycle carbon intensity of operation for our Ag industrial customers throughout the Midwest." said NewCarbon Head of Feedstocks Brian Lammers.

It’s not a well-kept secret. Landfills stink. Remnants of scraps, trash, and waste decay in landfills and produce odors, which is partially from methane, a greenhouse gas.

While it’s almost impossible to prevent methane from being produced from waste products, NewCarbon is offering an effective solution to mitigate those emissions at the city landfill in Hastings.

The process, called a 'Landfill Gas Collection and Flaring System,' takes the trash that’s already in the landfill, and captures the methane gases.

It treats the captured gases, then exports it to an already existing renewable natural gas line, less than a mile away to the north on DLD Rd.

"What we're looking to do is to build a landfill gas collection system, and essentially collect the biogas, and install an upgrading system to upgrade that gas into pipeline quality natural gas." said Lammers.

Hastings Environmental Director Marty Stange says there’s no danger in methane levels at the landfill right now, and the partnership is more of a proactive approach for the future with expansion on the horizon.

"Right now we are meeting the statutory limits on (methane) so we don't need to remove it today, but as we start filling up the landfill, then there's more material to generate more methane," said Stange. "Looking down the road with the landfill expansion, there's going to be more cells out there, and we're going to have a landfill there for the next 30 or 40 years."

The win-win plan for both parties is for the emission capture system that will be built on land directly to the north of the landfill that the city of Hastings bought from the state last year.

NewCarbon will build and pay for the equipment, installation, and maintenance leaving no cost to the city.

NewCarbon is in the early stages of engineering the system, and will begin construction in 2027, with an expected completion date of 2029.

The landfill is also currently in the early stages of expanding to the north as well, which was approved by the city council in Jan. 2024.

View NewCarbon's full project plan below.