Officials from the Waste Management landfill and the Lafarge cement plant have signed an agreement to use piped-in methane gas from the landfill to aid the cement-making process.

The plan could save both companies thousands of dollars and eliminate the equivalent of 450,000t of coal a year from Lafarge’s manufacturing process, company officials say.

"It’s good for us and good for the environment," said Jim Bachmann, plant manager for Lafarge. "You could say that in this case, one person’s waste is another person’s fuel."

The project, which should be finished next spring, is likely to cost between $2m and $4m, officials said.

The cement factory could also double its fuel use from the landfill in the next 30 years as the 117-acre dump fills with garbage and produces more methane.

For LaFarge, the methane will replace about 3 percent of the plant’s total energy use, which comes from coal, natural gas and a tire-burning program.