Beech-Nut Touts Sustainability of New Plant

Beech-Nut Nutrition opened its new state-of-the-art 650,000-square-foot infant food production facility in the Town of Florida, NY in Montgomery County yesterday, according to a company press release. The facility represents a $124 million investment, and includes several enhancements to improve overall sustainability, including:

• A significant savings in the amount of fresh water used to operate the facility equivalent to the daily use by a city of ten thousand people;
• A reduction in waste water discharge equivalent to what is the daily discharge by another ten thousand people;
• A reduction in electricity over current efficiency standards equivalent to service the energy demands of over 2,000 people annually;
• Natural light and landscaping that without the need for excess use of piped water and irrigation;
• Certified sustainable wood and environmentally friendly paints that were used on both interior and exterior construction;
• The reduction of landfill waste from the construction.

These investments into sustainability enhancement will produce savings of over 1,000 tons of carbon emissions annually.

In addition, the company has implemented an internal recycling program as well as a green cleaning regiment which eliminates the use of cleaning agents with certain chemicals. Incentives also have been created to encourage Beech-Nut employees to adopt personal green practices, including reserved parking spaces for employees who drive Hybrid vehicles.

Beech-Nut also has filed an application to attain LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Certification, which would make it the first infant food production facility in the world and one of a few food processors in the United States to receive such a designation.