PurposeEnergy to Build Biogas Plant in Vermont for Ben & Jerry's

Jul 07, 2023

May 24, 2023

ST. ALBANS-- PurposeEnergy is proud to announce its commitment to build a new biogas processing plant in partnership with Unilever and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream. The Saint Albans Industrial Treatment Center ("SAINT") is a new biogas project designed to produce renewable energy through the responsible treatment of organic waste produced from food and beverage manufacturing. The project is located in St. Albans, Vermont and will serve a collection of Northern Vermont and Upstate New York-based food and beverage producers, including Unilever's Ben & Jerry's plant in St. Albans, which will be piped directly to the SAINT biogas plant.

This latest project is an extension of the partnership struck between Ben & Jerry's and PurposeEnergy over 5 years ago at the PurposeEnergy biogas facility in South Burlington, VT.

"Working on climate justice initiatives is an effort that requires all businesses like Ben & Jerry's to step up and play a part if we truly want to implement impactful and meaningful change," said Jenna Evans, Global Sustainability Manager at Ben & Jerry's. "Today begins a new chapter breaking ground on this anaerobic digester adjacent to our St. Albans location. This project is crucial in furthering our commitment to our environmental and sustainability goals," added Evans.

Other local companies that will benefit from the SAINT project include Casella Waste Systems, which will bring de-packaged organic waste to the project, Richard I. Green Trucking, a transportation company that delivers chocolate for Barry Callebaut, and Wind River Environmental, a hauler of restaurant grease trap and septic waste.

SAINT provides both an economically compelling and long-term sustainability solution for organic waste treatment and carbon reduction for key businesses operating within the local community. The project will reduce the load on local landfills and wastewater treatment systems, while also producing renewable energy for the local power grid that will benefit the surrounding community. When fully operational, SAINT will treat up to 50,000 gallons per day of food waste and wastewater, converting over 90% of the organic content into renewable biogas. In addition, the project will employ an average of 25 people on site during the approximately one-year construction period. Once operational, SAINT will employ 5 people locally and generate additional ancillary jobs in the region.

"PurposeEnergy is proud to be working with this remarkable team. The commitments from our partners at Ben & Jerry's, Casella, Richard I. Green Trucking, the Vermont Public Utility Commission, and Franklin County Industrial Development Corporation were key to achieving today's groundbreaking milestone," said Eric Fitch, Chief Executive Officer of PurposeEnergy. "The headlines are likely to be about renewable energy from food waste, but the most significant part of this particular project may be the tons-per-year of phosphorus the SAINT Project will sequester and prevent from reaching Lake Champlain."

SAINT is the first new project to be committed by PurposeEnergy, after announcing the acquisition of the firm by Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners in March of this year. PurposeEnergy has one other project under active construction in Middlebury, VT, and a pipeline of additional projects in mid-to-late-stage development.

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