Digital Days Out Tuesday 14th April – Doing Our Bit For The Environment!

Whey Permeate to heat over 800 homes

We’re thrilled to share this exciting story with you which we’re very proud to be involved in. Our passion for cheese-making is now helping to heat homes in the area thanks to the conversion of our leftover whey (which is a fantastically versatile by-product of cheese-making) and love of our environment & landscape that has brought about an exciting renewable-energy initiative! Read the news story below!

We produce 4000 tonnes of cheese every year at our creamery in Hawes in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales – the leftover whey that comes from all of our cheese-making is sent to the Leeming Biogas plant near Northallerton. At the plant, our whey will be produced into methane gas, with billions of bacteria breaking down the waste!

The process is called anerobic digestion, and is the same as what happens in a cow’s stomach when they digest. Any whey that is left over from the process won’t go to waste, as it will be spread on fields to help improve the soil. At full capacity the Leeming Biogas plant can provide enough gas to heat 4,000 homes from the crumbly cheese waste. The gas produced by the cheese would be a renewable “green gas” and help to crack down on carbon emissions. By using the gas to burn in home boilers, it avoids the whey being dumped into a landfill and slowly releasing methane into the atmosphere.

Heat Recycling System

Did you know that we recycle the heat that is generated from our refrigerated cheese shop? We use a Heat Exchange System to supply our Visitor Centre with hot water, thus reducing energy and Co2 emissions by 16 tonnes per year!

Waxed Truckles

We’re proud to announce that as of April 2019 we stopped wrapping our waxed truckles in plastic film. Our popular cheese truckles are sold around the UK and throughout the world  – so this initiative has an impact globally.

Degradable Carrier Bags

We have introduced degradable carrier bags made from recycled products in our Visitor Centre to replace plastic bags. Plastic carrier bags take two hundred years to decompose whereas our new degradable bags take two. The new carrier bags are charged at 10p per bag with proceeds distributed between charities & local initiatives.

Green Roof

Our new Creamery has a calcareous green roof which makes a positive contribution to local biodiversity. It offers improved insulation, reducing heat loss in Winter and heat gains in Summer.  The green roof is essentially an extension of the natural surroundings. It also reduces noise from heavy rainfall and rain water run-off, helping to prevent flash flooding into the nearby water course.

The lifespan of our Creamery roof is increased as it is protected by the green roof! 

Taking a stand against single-use plastic!

We have expanded our range of cool bags & bags for life in the Visitor Centre in order to promote sustainability.

Our children’s lunch bags are now made from paper and we have replaced all plastic straws with paper straws in a move welcomed by our customers.