Sustainability and environmental impact-reduction projects from Turkey Hill.
Now powered by 100% renewable energy facilities!
Frey Wind Farm
Turkey Hill partnered with Energy Power Investment, LLC and Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority to install the first commercial-scale wind energy project in South Central Pennsylvania.
The turbines reduce the dairy’s greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 5,900 tons annually, the equivalent of removing 1,000 cars from the road.
262 feet tall
135 foot-wide blades
Producing 6-7 Million Kwh of electricity
Enough to make 5 million Gallons of ice cream
Turkey Hill Dairy has joined forces with The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association to form the Turkey Hill Clean Water Partnership. This Partnership has secured 1.5 million dollars to support dairy producers in making positive changes for clean water. The Partnership is currently working with dairy farmers, that supply milk to Turkey Hill Dairy, to acquire an updated conservation plan. Once the plan is developed, the partnership will collaborate with the farmers to implement conservation practices on ‘high priority’ farms. Once these changes are made, the producers will receive a premium, from Turkey Hill, for all the milk supplied to the dairy. For more information, visit allianceforthebay.org (opens new window) or view our most recent video, Turkey Hill Clean Water Partnership: The Challenge(opens new window), that captures the partnership's progress.
The Turkey Hill Clean Water Partnership has earned the Innovation Center for US Dairy’s 2020 Sustainability Award(opens new window).
Green Energy Plant
In 2005, Turkey Hill partnered with EPP Renewable Energy, LLC and LCSWMA to install a Landfill Gas to Energy Plant, taking LCSWMA’s waste gases and converting them to electricity, creating steam used as part of the production and cleaning process.
The Green Plant Saves Up To 140,000 Gallons of Diesel Fuel Annually
Shipping Improvements
Through fleet improvements, backhauling, and local sourcing, Turkey Hill has worked hard to ensure more economical fuel usage, with fewer trucks coming to or leaving its facilities empty.
Waste Reduction
In the last three years, Turkey Hill has recycled:
1,000 tons of cardboard
636 tons of plastic
927 tons of metals
33 tons of paper
Equivalent to the weight of 1.5 million cartons of ice cream
Redesigning dairy crates reduced the amount of plastic resin used annually by about 40,000 lbs
We strive to reuse everything we can. Methane gas that's the by-product of waste-water treatment is used instead of propane to heat equipment, resulting in a reduction of propane usage by about 75,000 gallons annually. That's enough to fuel a backyard gas grill for about 35 summers. Turkey Hill, at the Conestoga, PA facility, has also been a zero-waste to landfill facility since 2015.
Constantly Upgrading
Turkey Hill has pursued energy-saving lighting upgrades for nearly 20 years including, converting to all LED lighting where ever possible. Upgraded seals have been added to most loading docks to cut down on heat infiltration and prevent loss of refrigeration.
Turkey Hill is actively defining and implementing the following green initiatives to drive out waste, optimize packaging, and reduce our impact on the environment.
- Wastewater Treatment UV Equipment
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- Project involved installing UV equipment to replace chlorine gas as a disinfection chemical
- Sulfur dioxide gas used to counteract the chlorine prior to discharge was also eliminated
- Note: Chlorine gas is a hazardous chemical and its replacement by UV disinfection improved worker safety, reduced toxic chemical reporting, and eliminated the formation of chloramines in our effluent discharge
- Ice Cream Waste Reduction
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- Implementation of allergen program made it necessary to eliminate traditional methods for reworking ice cream mix waste created during production
- In 2007, Turkey Hill invested in systems to capture and safely reclaim waste from production
- Resulted in a one third reduction of ice cream mix waste (which had previously been discarded)
- Eliminated the use of additional commodities to replace the waste
- Also eliminated the transportation of heavy liquid to a disposal location.
- Reduced Resin Content of Half Gallon Decanters
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- Turkey Hill invested significant capital into filling, labeling, and handling equipment
- Allows us to fill and handle a redesigned half gallon bottle
- New half gallon bottle has 22 grams less of HDPE resin than previous container — an annual quantity of 1,424,500 pounds
- Reduced Plastic Fruit Pails
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- Reducing number of single use plastic pails used in facility
- With the help of our suppliers — transitioned many of our fruit ingredients from a plastic 30 lb pail to a reusable 2500 lb tote system
- Reusable totes are backhauled from facility when ingredients are delivered
- The totes are cleaned and sanitized by vendor before refill
Results:
- Utilizing 45,000 fewer pails (135,000 pounds of plastic) per year than in 2008
- Adoption of LEAN Processing Principles
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- In the process of training and certifying its associates in LEAN manufacturing principles
- LEAN principles are focused on identifying and driving all waste out of our systems
- Turkey Hill teams use LEAN process to analyze and implement changes in areas of the company
- Goal: through companywide continuous improvement, we will find more ways to increase sustainability of our business and products