Advanced Disposal has opened a $1.6 million compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station in Macon, Ga., and is now operating 15 CNG trucks in the area, with plans to expand the fleet.

The Ponte Vedra, Fla.-based Advanced Disposal operates 12 percent of its collection routes on CNG, and the company plans to increase that total to 15 percent by the end of the year, said CEO Richard Burke in a news release.

The new CNG station, opened at its hauling facility in Macon, is the company’s seventh.

The new station is the only multi-truck CNG station in the Macon metro area. About 25 percent of the trucks operating in the Macon area currently run on CNG. The CNG trucks will carry a logo that reads, “powered by CNG.”

Advanced Disposal will replace retiring diesel trucks with CNG in the future as the old trucks’ useful life ends.

“CNG is a cleaner fuel source than diesel, which lowers our company’s carbon footprint while reducing costs of operations,” Burke said. “This helps us achieve our goals of being good stewards of the environment while enhancing stakeholder returns.”

 In late August Advanced Disposal and its parent firm, ADS Waste Holdings Inc., said it is going public, as it has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an initial public offering (IPO) of common stock. The company said that the company hasn’t determined the number of shares to be offered or the price range. In its filing with the SEC, ADS said it intends to use the proceeds from the sale of common stock to repay debt.

The company also has been acquiring haulers at a steady pace, adding seven so far this year and three in June alone.

That month Advanced Disposal purchased assets of the Smethport, Pa.-based waste company CF Burdick Trucking; Decatur, Ill.-based Ross Disposal Services; and Disposal Management Systems Inc., based in Schaumburg, Ill.

The company in May acquired Sturgeon Bay, Wis.-based waste hauler Little Hoppers. The previous month it bought the Beloit, Wis.-based waste and recycling hauler Rock Disposal Inc.

In January Advanced Disposal bought two haulers in separate deals. It acquired Henderson, Ky.-based waste hauler Pea Ridge Waste Management LLC, and it also purchased Hornback Recycling & Disposal Inc., Ann Arbor, Mich.