The Yolo County Central Landfill project is one of the earliest and most successful demonstrations of landfill bioreactor technology in the United States.
Spanning a 12-acre module, it incorporated 6-acre and 3.5-acre anaerobic landfill cells alongside a 2.5-acre aerobic cell, achieving a 5x acceleration in methane generation compared to traditional landfills.

Initiated in 1994 with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the project played a critical role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and establishing modern bioreactor landfill practices.

Yolo’s innovative model proved that landfills could transition from waste storage facilities to active renewable energy generators while significantly lowering environmental impact.