Converting ice cream into renewable energy

Converting ice cream into renewable energy

Circular economy

United StatesLeyline Renewable Capital has partnered with PurposeEnergy, for the development of SAINT project that will convert industrial food waste into renewable energy.

Leyline’s funding will facilitate the development of the SAINT in St. Albans, that will anaerobically convert industrial food waste, including Ben & Jerry’s dairy waste and depackaged ice cream, into 1 MW of renewable energy and clean water.

Waste processing to start in 2022

The SAINT project will begin processing ice cream waste in the fall of 2022, after breaking ground this year. The project will create enough renewable energy to power 1,000 Vermont households and sequester phosphorus, preventing it from entering the Lake Champlain watershed once it is operational. Excess phosphorus can generate algal blooms, impair water clarity, create odors, and destroy aquatic life, all of which diminish lake recreational use and have an impact on tourism and the environment in the area.

Pre-treatment plant

PurposeEnergy will build this anaerobic pre-treatment plant next to the Ben & Jerry’s manufacturing facility, which will be connected via a subterranean three-inch pipe that will accept Ben & Jerry’s byproducts for treatment, reducing the requirement for hundreds of trash tanker trucks each year. PurposeEnergy will blend various feedstocks with the ice cream in order to enhance power output from the digesters. These include depackaged food waste, chocolate, and cheese byproducts. As a result, additional community businesses can use the digesters to process their waste, saving money and lowering their carbon impact.

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