AimsThe aim of the study was to isolate bacterial lignin-degrading bacteria from municipal solid waste (MSW) soil, and to investigate whether they could be used to delignify lignocellulose-containing soil, and enhance methane release. Methods and ResultsA set of 20 bacterial lignin degraders, including 11 new isolates from MSW soil, were tested for delignification and phenol release in soil containing 1% pine lignocellulose. A group of seven strains were then tested for enhancement of gas release from soil containing 1% lignocellulose in small-scale column tests. Using an aerobic pretreatment, aerobic strains such as Pseudomonas putida showed enhanced gas release from the treated sample, but four bacterial isolates showed 5-10-fold enhancement in gas release in an insitu experiment under microanaerobic conditions: Agrobacterium sp., Lysinibacillus sphaericus, Comamonas testosteroni and Enterobacter sp. ConclusionsThe results show that facultative anaerobic bacterial lignin degraders found in landfill soil can be used for insitu delignification and enhanced gas release in soil containing lignocellulose. Significance and Impact of the StudyThe study demonstrates the feasibility of using an insitu bacterial treatment to enhance gas release and resource recovery from landfill soil containing lignocellulosic waste.