Frito-Lay Casa Grande Facility Achieves Near Net Zero Status

In an attempt to reduce its environmental footprint, Frito-Lay North America has engaged in a process that will see every of its plants getting closer to the near net zero status. The latest to reach that goal is its Casa Grande, Arizona, facility.

This has been made possible through the use of renewable energy sources and recycled water, while producing nearly zero landfill waste.

The Casa Grande facility installed a water recovery and reuse system that combines Membrane Bio Reactor (MBR) and Low-Pressure Reverse Osmosis (LPRO) technologies to recycle from 50% to 75% of water.  

According to the company, the recycled process water meets Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) primary and secondary drinking water standards.

In addition, Frito-Lay installed five separate and distinct solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, capable of producing nearly 10 million kilowatt-hours (KWHs) of electrical power.

Two solar fields of single axis tracking PV systems with more than 18,000 solar panels were installed on 36 acres of the facility's agriculture property.

The three additional PV fields installed by the plant include a dual axis tracking system, a single axis covered parking lot and 10 sterling engine dual axis tracking systems.

The newly installed 60,000 pounds per hour biomass boiler, which uses wood and agricultural waste as its combustion energy source, will produce all the steam needed for the manufacturing plant and will reduce natural gas usage by over 80%.

As of 2010, the Casa Grande facility sends less than 1% of its overall waste to landfill through extensive recycling and using food waste for cattle feed.

During the course of implementation, the Casa Grande facility became the first existing food manufacturing site to achieve LEED Existing Building (EB) Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council in 2009.

"As a company that relies on key natural resources like water and fuel, Frito-Lay has developed strategies to ensure our business remains sustainable, even if there are constraints on those resources," explained Al Carey, past CEO and president, Frito-Lay North America.