After gaining approval from the Penn Township Planning and Zoning Board to build the solar farm, Snyder's of Hanover plans to begin construction this month. The solar farm will be built on the field across route 116 from the plant and corporate headquarters.

"We're incredibly eager to take the next step in reducing our carbon footprint. This is an exciting event for our company, community, and environment," said Jim Butt, vice president of technical services at Snyder's of Hanover and project manager for the solar project in a prepared statement.

The solar farm will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in excess of 230 million pounds of carbon dioxide over a 25 year period. As a comparison, the energy created from the solar field equals more than 111 million miles not driven by a medium sized car and more than 11 million trees would need to be planted to equal the same level of carbon dioxide reduction.

"We are always looking for ways to be a greener and environmentally friendly company and the solar farm is an important step. The solar field joins other Snyder's of Hanover sustainability initiatives including compostable packaging and takes the company one step closer to achieving our five year sustainability goals established last year. It demonstrates that we can still be passionate about pretzels and better-for-you snack foods while caring for our environment," said Carl E. Lee, Jr., president and CEO of Snyder's of Hanover.

The global leader in pretzels and the United States' second largest snack food company, Snyder's of Hanover was founded in 1909 and is a privately held company that employs over 2,250 associates and operates nearly 1,900 distribution routes nationwide.