| Cleaner Production at a Fruit and Vegetable Processing Industry | Norway | 1993 | Full scale |
MANUFACTURE OF FOOD PRODUCTS AND BEVERAGES # 33
Background:
The company has 53 employees and a turnover of 68.7 million NOK in 1993. The plant processes fruit and vegetables, and a major part of their products are canned.
The process equipment of the industry were designed before there was any concern for the water consumption. Water was a cheap utility. A high energy consumption usually comes with a high water consumption. The process was modified to be less energy demanding. The redesign of the process and equipment has reduced energy and water consumption.
Economics were the driving force to implement cleaner production. Grimstad konservesfabrikk A/S reduced their operational costs and their impacts on the environment as a result of cleaner production measures.
Cleaner Production Principle:
Process/ product modification; Housekeeping
Cleaner Production Application:
The companies aimed at reducing the consumption of water per ton of product by 5% in the first two years and further to 2,5% in the coming years. The project emphasis was employee training and supervision to encourage them to come up with ideas to improve the process. During the project procedures were identified to help the employees continue with good housekeeping practices when the project was finished.
Many food processing plants have low technical quality process equipment, process knowledge and operation procedures. Experience shows that it is possible to reduce energy consumption and reduce organic substance discharge to the waste water by simple technical actions and improved operating procedures. The investments usually have a low pay-back period.
The first major investments was done for a machine which sorts out bad vegetables. The remaining investments were in maintenance efforts were carried out latter on.
Environmental and Economic Benefits:
The project benefits include,
| Reuse of water from the heat exchanger. This action reduced the water consumption by 2,115 m3/year. |
| Rebuild the autoclaves. This action saved 30,600 Kwh/year and 1,750 m3/year of water. |
| Recycle condensate from the new autoclave. This action saved 61,500 kWh/year and 390 m3/year with water. |
| Regulate the water flow through the screw. This action reduced the water consumption with 470 m3/year. |
| Information and commitment from the employees. This action resulted in a savings of 108,200 kWh/year and 2,720 m3 water/year. |
| Implementing a system for monitoring water and energy consumption. This action resulted in savings of 216,400 kWh/year and 5,440 m3 water/year. |
| The total savings are 416,700 kWh/year and 12,900 m3 water/year |
The total investments was 1,475,000 NOK, which resulted in reduction of operational costs by 1,200,000 NOK/year. The pay back time was 1.2 years.
Constraints:
None reported.
Contacts:
Review Status:
This case study was submitted by : The Oestfold Research Foundation Institute for Pollution Prevention Box 276 1601 Fredrikstad Norway Tel : + 47 693 41 900 Fax : + 47 693 42 497 e-mail: auduna@telepost.no Contact: Audun Amundsen They were edited by UNEP IE in May 1996.
Subsequently, in September 1998 the case study underwent a technical review by Dr. Prasad Modak, Environmental Management Centre, Mumbai, India.