Waste

The list of things that bring us joy at Ben & Jerry’s is thankfully a long one. Our relationship with partners like St. Albans Co-op comes to mind. But believe it or not, we’re actually also very excited about the waste we generate — or more specifically, we’re excited about what we can generate from our waste! We’re constantly looking for new ways to manage our waste stream and improve our ice cream production. You see, we create 2 types of waste: one we send down the drain to a municipal treatment facility, but the other is too ice-creamy to be handled by that waste-water plant. So, over the years we’ve gotten pretty creative with it. In the beginning, it went to a manure pit, then it went to a composting facility, and now we’re sending it to a Methane Bio-digester. This miracle of modern science puts our waste through a biological process that actually creates methane energy for the farmer. And the “cake” solids left over from the digester are then turned into comfy bedding for the cows. Who knew waste could be so exciting? We’re passionate about making our waste less wasteful.