Folsom, Calif.-based Waste Connections announced that it will partner with Pleasanton, Calif.-based Fulcrum Bioenergy, supplying municipal solid waste (MSW) from its processing facility in El Dorado County, Calif., as feedstock for Fulcrum’s Sierra BioFuels Plant. The plant, located 20 miles outside Reno, Nev., was recently selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to enter the final stage of the agency’s Loan Guarantee Program.

According to a press release, the Sierra BioFuels Plant is designed to produce approximately 10.5 million gallons of ethanol annually and generate 16 megawatts of renewable electricity by processing post-sorted MSW. Slated to open in late 2012, the project is intended to decrease U.S. dependence on foreign oil, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stimulate economic growth in northern Nevada by creating more than 50 full-time and 450 temporary “green” jobs.

"Our partnership with Fulcrum is a continuation of our efforts to evaluate and integrate emerging technologies into our waste handling and disposal operations, said Ronald J. Mittelstaedt, Waste Connections’ chairman and CEO, in a statement. “We believe that Fulcrum is at the cutting edge of an emerging breed of new technologies. Converting El Dorado County's solid waste to biofuel will dramatically increase El Dorado County's recycling rates and compliance with California's AB 939 requirements for the foreseeable future."