Manatee County will start collecting royalties from its own trash. A $50 million renewable natural gas (RNG) facility broke ground Oct. 9 at the Lena Road Landfill in east Manatee County, the first project of its kind on Florida's west coast.

The facility will capture methane gas that decomposing waste produces at the 1,170-acre landfill at 3333 Lena Road in Bradenton. Instead of burning that gas off through the landfill's existing flare stack, the plant will purify it into pipeline-quality fuel for buses and trucks, Your Observer reported.

The county did not spend a dime on construction. Johnson Controls and Nopetro Energy are funding the $50 million project. The county's contribution: about one acre of landfill land.

Charles McGinnis, a vice president for Johnson Controls, said Manatee County is guaranteed at least $883,000 in annual royalties once the plant is operational, according to the Business Observer. That figure could climb as high as $2.1 million. The plant will also generate tradeable energy credits.

Under the partnership, Nopetro Energy will own and operate the facility. Johnson Controls served as the integrated developer, providing design, engineering and strategic consulting. Mead & Hunt, an engineering and construction firm, is building it.

The Manatee County Board of County Commissioners approved the initiative by a 5-1 vote in October 2025, according to a county press release. Commissioner Bearden voted against it. Commissioner McCann was absent.

Manatee County Commissioner George Kruse said at the groundbreaking that the landfill gas "still has value," according to the Bradenton Times. "Why waste it?" Kruse said. "Through this partnership, methane produced here will be captured, cleaned and transformed into renewable natural gas that can move through existing pipelines and ultimately be used as fuel."

The agreement runs 20 years. After that, the county can extend the contract or take ownership of the facility. Jorge Herrera, CEO of Nopetro Energy, told the Business Observer that county ownership is unlikely because the plants are too specialized. "It's basically like saying, 'Take an oil refinery and run it,'" Herrera said.

Project partners estimate the facility will eliminate emissions equal to burning 5.3 million gallons of gasoline each year and produce enough renewable energy to match the annual needs of more than 4,500 homes. Those figures are estimates provided by the project partners and have not been independently verified, Pulse of Manatee noted.

The project is expected to create about 50 construction jobs and five permanent positions.

The Manatee County project expands Nopetro's footprint in Florida. The company already operates a landfill gas-to-RNG facility in Vero Beach and runs 15 RNG fueling stations across the state. Nopetro has been in business for 17 years.

Operations are expected to begin in 2027.