PurposeEnergy Opens $40M Facility Converting Yogurt Residuals to Renewable Energy
News related to:PurposeEnergy · 1 min read
MINSTER, Ohio, Oct. 19, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- PurposeEnergy has unveiled a groundbreaking facility in Minster, Ohio, that is set to transform the region’s organic waste into renewable energy, clean water, and nutrient-rich soil amendments. The $40 million project, located on Columbia Drive in the Route 66 Industrial Park, is a significant step in the company’s mission to create circularity benefits for food and beverage manufacturing.
The facility, which is the first of its kind for PurposeEnergy in partnership with Danone USA, is designed to process up to 250,000 gallons of organic residuals per day. This includes wastewater and high-strength organic food waste residuals from Danone USA’s largest U.S. yogurt manufacturing facility and other regional food and beverage producers. The conversion process will generate approximately 50,000 MMBtu of renewable biogas annually, which will be piped directly to Danone’s Minster plant to displace conventional natural gas. According to standard EPA/EIA combustion emission factors, this biogas is equivalent to reducing approximately 3,200 U.S. tons of CO2e per year.
For the Village of Minster, the project brings substantial environmental benefits. The water leaving the PurposeEnergy facility is treated well above the village’s discharge standards, with surplus nutrients and dissolved solids removed before it reaches the municipal wastewater treatment works. Additionally, the facility avoids about 720 U.S. tons of CO2e each year by piping residuals directly from Danone’s Minster plant, compared to the previous off-site handling route.
The facility is now operational and ramping up, with a Grand Opening celebration planned for spring of 2027. PurposeEnergy, a portfolio company of Quinbrook, continues to finance, build, own, and operate industrial anaerobic digestion facilities for food and beverage manufacturers, converting high-strength organic waste into renewable energy, clean water, and fertilizer.