While today’s dairy processing plants don’t include computer-generated holograms, elaborately designed automatic equipment and the ability to harness the power of water and wind into solar energy are just a few sustainability tactics construction engineers are utilizing to design and build the dairy plant of the future.
No dairy processor operates in a vacuum. All manufacturing operations are associated with detrimental effects on the environment. The severity of those impacts, however, differs widely from processor to processor.
Vermont Creamery’s processing facilities look a little bit different today than they did 38 years ago when the company was founded as a two-person artisan operation (see the processor profile).
A flood of financial and operational benefits awaits dairy processors that take aggressive steps to control escalating wastewater generation and energy use.
A few weeks ago, I poured milk on my cereal, and when I took my first bite, I realized that something was wrong. I went back and tasted the milk and found a distinct off-flavor and odor in the milk itself.