June 18, 2025. Today, the RNG Coalition announces the commissioning of the 500th operational renewable natural gas (RNG) facility in North America. This is a significant milestone that achieves the 2025 benchmark for the industry’s Sustainable Methane Abatement & Recycling Timeline (SMART) initiative.
“Across our industry value-chain, members should be proud of the positive impact our collective leadership, education, advocacy, development and sustainability is having on society, in our economy and for our environment”, said Johannes Escudero, Founder & CEO of the RNG Coalition. “Together, we have accomplished something that few believed was possible. We still have a lot of work to do, but we’re going to celebrate and tell the incredible story that is the RNG industry.”
Established in 2019, SMART is an initiative to capture and control methane and CO2 from more than 43,000 waste sites across North America by 2050 — and convert the avoided emissions into domestic sources of renewable fuel, heat, power and other products for airports, buildings, hospitals, universities, medium- and heavy-duty trucks, as well as for the maritime, aviation, rail, and food and beverage industries.
As the amount of waste from society increases, RNG facilities represent a sustainable solution supporting North America’s growing energy demand. Since the Coalition’s founding in 2011, the number of RNG facilities in operation has increased from just 31 to over 500 today.
With an additional 153 facilities currently under construction and another 293 in various planning and permitting phases, the RNG Coalition is already shifting industry sights to focus on the SMART initiative’s next benchmark: 1,000 operational facilities by the end of 2030.
To continue influencing the future of energy and maintain momentum, RNG Coalition is partnering with regulated and voluntary markets, as well as federal and state agencies, to create new market pathways, optimize incentive programs, and integrate RNG into broader energy-security strategies. We invite lawmakers, regulators and energy consumers to join us in supporting our mission and SMART initiative — so that RNG can play a central role in sustainably bolstering North America’s energy independence and economic growth for current and future generations.