Waste Management Inc. will replace half its waste fleet based in Pen Argyl, Pa., with compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles, and may replace the entire fleet by next year.

The Houston-based Waste Management will order 25 waste and recycling collection vehicles and the probably the remaining 25 next year, the company confirmed in an e-mail. Fleet director Jim Pryor made the statement; he oversees New York City, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

Nearby Plainfield Township agreed to allow Waste Management to establish a CNG fueling station for both private and public use near its Grand Central Landfill.

The company received a grant of $806,248 grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development, as well as $490,000 from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The diesel trucks Waste Management replaces will go to other sites, it said.