Wisconsin Uses Cheese Waste to Clear its Snowy Roads

Eating cheese helps clear roads, got it.

Roads dusted with the white chalky substance of rock salt is a familiar sight this time of year. The salt works to help clear snowy roads and prevent wet roads from freezing over in the colder weather and winds, following winter storms, and keeps America on the move. But, in Wisconsin, it’s not only rock salt that’s being sprinkled on the roads, its waste from the state’s burgeoning cheese industry as well.

Rock salt is typically sprayed across America’s snow-covered roads because it works to lower the freezing point of water. Regular water freezes at 32°F (0°C) while salty water can freeze below 28°F (-2°C) and rock salt can remain an effective way of keeping roads somewhat free of snow and ice, all the way down to 15 degrees (-9°C).

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But instead of shipping great mounds of rock salt across the state, Wisconsin looked closer to home for a means of clearing its roads. The state, affectionately known as America’s dairyland, looked to its cheesemakers for help.

Cheeses are washed in brine that can then be used to clean roads. Delicious.

If it were a country, Wisconsin would be ranked fourth in the world for cheese production, just behind Germany. Mixing up everything from vibrant Colby cheeses to hard cheeses like Cupola, the state made a name for itself off its dairy industry.

And, where there’s cheese, there’s always salt, as it’s one of just three ingredients needed to make cheese alongside milk and rennet. It makes sense, then, that dairy experts across the state might be able to help with uncovering a new way to keep Wisconsin’s roads more free of ice in the winter.