The City of Atlanta opened a new compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station at its solid waste facility in April. The fuel station is one of two new CNG facilities now in operation in the city, which will be used to transition the entire solid waste fleet from diesel to CNG, according to a city release.

The 20 trash collection vehicles that will initially use the stations will serve as many as 96,000 residents per week. After refueling at one of the two CNG stations overnight, the trucks will be able to complete their routes each day without needing to refuel.

Public Works Commissioner Richard Mendoza said the city will see immediate fuel cost savings of as much as 50% and a reduction in carbon emission by 13-21%.

Atlanta Gas Light Company constructed the facility and funded it with a $2.5 million share of the Georgia Public Service Commission’s $11.6 million program to develop CNG stations in Georgia. Each station includes CNG equipment to time-fill up to 30 collections vehicles at each site overnight as well as a two-hose fast-fill dispenser for topping off the collections vehicles and fueling other CNG vehicles.

Atlanta Gas Light also opened another CNG fueling station in nearby DeKalb County in April.