The beverage industry optimizes the reuse of water

Ecuadornews:

In Mexico, Nestlé has the first Cero Agua dairy factory. The objective is to stop using 1.6 million liters of liquid, which is equivalent to the daily consumption of 6,400 people. Eight years ago the company Biela del Ecuador optimized the use of water for the industrial processes of the products it manufactures.

Luigi Rojas, representative of the brewing company, said that the company currently has a treatment plant where they recycle 80% of the water they use, of which 40% is used internally and the remaining 40% is delivered to a cardboard company, which allocates it for the industrial carton spraying process; and to Puerto Limpio, for cleaning their vehicles.

“The water here is quite expensive; we pay at a rate of almost $ 2 per cubic meter, and I would say that at least we save between 2,000 and 2,500 cubic meters of water per month, “said Rojas.

Last Thursday, the executive was part of the seminar “Environmental Challenges in the Food and Beverage Industry,” which was organized in Guayaquil by Grupo Veolia. The event was attended by speakers and international experts to analyze current trends towards the new challenges of the sector in environmental matters. Ilfn Florsheim, communication manager of Veolia Ecuador, said that the purpose is to inform the industrial sector of food and beverages the technologies available to the company to improve production processes in a friendly way with the environment and to reduce costs.

“It is something that is proposed to the industrialists to have a better use of water, its reuse, have an effective management of waste, causing recycling and return, in some cases, to the production line or other lines to be so more friendly to the environment.”

The topics discussed in the seminar were focused on water, waste and renewable energy management. The industry focuses on reducing carbon footprints Rodrigo Angulo, head of Food and Beverage Businesses at Veolia Latin America, said that today the industry is increasingly focused on reducing carbon footprints, water consumption and other issues.

The job is to help companies in the sector implement the necessary technology to meet the environmental goals that are proposed. “The main benefit of this is to stop using both the water resource. The industry per se requires a large volume of water for its processes, so that the finished product reaches the consumers, that’s why the technologies helped to reduce the use of water in industrial processes “.

One example is the Nestlé company in Lagos de México, where the world’s first Cero Agua dairy factory is located.

For this, it uses technology from Veolia, whose benefit is to stop using 1.6 million liters per day of the liquid, which is equivalent to the consumption / day of 6,400 people. This plant does not use external liquid and only uses the water obtained from the milk in the dehydration process, which is treated to purify it and use it as drinking water.

“Thanks to Cero Agua we will stop using 1’600,000 liters of water per day that we previously extracted from the subsoil,” said the CEO of the multinational, Paul Bulcke.

Angulo added that at the regional level, Mexico, Colombia and Ecuador do a good job on environmental issues, and that the companies that focus on this type of measures are the corporate ones, those that have a presence in different parts of the world.

“In Ecuador, the general culture of the client is very focused on: one, having quality in the product they deliver and, two, complying with environmental requirements,” Angulo said.

However, Rojas believes that financing is a limitation to implement technologies that help reduce water consumption in industries. “What they teach us in this seminar is technology that costs. You cannot do anything without the financing to invest, “he said. (I)

Source: https://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/sociedad/6/industria-bebidas-optimiza-reuso-agua