SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Waste Management and engineering company The Linde Group are building a facility to convert landfill gas to fuel for Waste Management trucks.

Set to be completed in 2009, the liquefied natural gas facility will be built at the Altamont Landfill near Livermore, Calif., turning landfill gas into 13,000 gallons of biofuel a day.

Gases emitted from the decomposition of organic materials will be collected, purified and liquefied for use in Waste Management's California fleet of 300 trash and recycling collection trucks.

The conversion of gas to fuel is expected to prevent the emission of 30,000 tons of greenhouse gases a year.

The $15.5 million facility is being funded party with $1.4 million in grants from the California Integrated Waste Management Board, the California Air Resources Board and the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

The North American arm of The Linde Group is designing the facility and will run the gas cleaning and liquefaction processes.

Waste Management has a number of landfill-gas-to-energy operations up and running, and the company recently broke ground on its second Canadian facility for turning landfill methane emissions into power.