The modification will turn food production byproducts into energy and will also lead to improved air quality in the area.
"This is one more step toward meeting our goal of becoming a zero waste company by 2020," said Suzanne Lindsay –Walker, Kroger's director of sustainability.
K.B. Specialty Foods employs 270 and produces deli salads, cake icing, and refrigerated side dish products that are popular all over the country.
The current wastewater treatment system in the facility is open to the air. The new system will feature a dome that will capture biogas from food byproducts at the plant. The collected biogas will then be harnessed to generate electricity.
ADI Systems, the project builder, says the new facility relies on a process called anaerobic digestion. Microorganisms will transform the byproducts of food production into the biogas. ADI Systems says that process provides "a source of renewable energy that can be used to displace fossil fuels." The electricity created will be sent to the plant's electrical grid.
K.B. Specialty Foods expects the new system to be operational next summer.
