Altamont Landfill, California / Waste Management Bay Area

10840 Altamont Pass Road
Livermore, CA 94551

The Altamont Landfill is one of the largest landfill operations in Northern California. It accepts for disposal all non-hazardous municipal solid wastes, non-hazardous industrial and special wastes, de-watered wastewater treatment plant sludge (biosolids), treated auto shredder wastes, contaminated soils, liquids for solidification, and friable asbestos wastes. put to other beneficial uses at the facility. Recycled and/or re-used materials at the facility comprise approximately 500,000 TPY of material.

Wind Power

Altamont receives approximately 500 trucks per day, contributing to both re-use and disposal flow rates at the landfill. These include transfer trucks, large-end dump trucks, and residential and commercial MSW collection vehicles from throughout the surrounding communities and the Bay Area. Altamont also collects landfill gas, which is generated from the natural processes of decomposition. Shredded tires collected at the landfill for disposal are used in the gas collection process, which greatly increases the amount of landfill gas captured and, at the same time, provides a significant revenue stream to the facility. Landfill gas collected at the facility consists of equal parts of methane and carbon dioxide and is used to generate electrical power at one of two power production facilities located at the site.

Energy Projects at Altamont

Diversion Activities

Diverting material from landfill resources has become one of the most important issues in Northern California. Communities look at the landfills as community resources whose lifespan should be extended for as long as possible.

The Altamont Landfill, along with transfer stations throughout the Bay Area, actively divert construction and demolition materials to operations like Davis Street Transfer Station Material Recovery Facility for recycling. Green waste is turned into compost at facilities in the Central Valley and delivered back to Davis Street for public consumption.

Future Opportunities

The Altamont landfill is positioned to continue its important role in the community and the Bay Area for many years to come. Changes in environmental legislation work both to protect the landfill as an asset to the communities it serves and to pave the way for different use opportunities to be explored. AB939, which mandates a 50% diversion rate in California, and Alameda County Measure D, which mandates a 75% diversion rate by 2010, creates opportunities for the landfill to develop and implement recycling, green waste and other programs that will help meet these new standards. Additionally, landfill power production fueled by methane gas from the landfill’s natural decomposition processes provides power generation opportunities into the foreseeable future.

Californians expect innovations in power production and alternative fuels. Altamont’s programs are in line with those goals.