“We are honored to receive the Green Plant of the Year award for 2024,” said Dave Masser, CEO of Masser Family Cos. and a member of Keystone Potato Products board of directors. “Our team is committed to finding innovative ways to protect the environment while producing high-quality potato products. This award motivates us to keep striving for additional sustainability solutions.”
To minimize the facility's reliance on traditional energy sources, the Keystone plant is powered by methane gas from the nearby Commonwealth Environmental Systems landfill — one of Pennsylvania’s largest and fastest-growing landfills. The methane powers a boiler that supplies steam, hot water and heat to the plant,
Keystone's environmental efforts also include unique water resourcing. The plant draws water from an abandoned underground coal mine, bringing to the surface water impaired by iron and manganese. Keystone operates a municipal water treatment facility to purify the water, making it suitable for drinking and food processing. Once the water is used in production, it is treated through an anaerobic digestion process and released into a nearby stream, ultimately contributing cleaner water to the Chesapeake Bay.
Additionally, Keystone has achieved a zero-waste milestone. All peel, bin, and mash waste generated by its potato processing lines are repurposed as feed for local Pennsylvania cattle farmers, ensuring no potato by-products are sent to landfills. This commitment to resourcefulness further underscores Keystone’s dedication to environmental stewardship.
