French utility major Veolia claims that its patented solutions allowed Pınar Süt’s factory in İzmir, Turkey, to meet new discharge legislation and achieve its environmental commitments, reducing carbon emissions by 17% and generating substantial savings on natural gas.
Pınar Süt, one of the biggest dairy companies in Turkey producing mainly milk, yoghurt, cheese, fruit juices, ketchup and mayonnaise, has acted on its ambition to reduce carbon footprint with the wastewater treatment plant built by Veolia Water Technologies, the French major wrote in a statement
The treated water is suitable for reuse with further tertiary treatment for certain applications in the factory such as flushing water, which contributes to its efforts to reduce carbon emissions of Pınar Süt, the statement noted.
According to the French major, the two Veolia-patented technologies are at the heart of the process that allows the production of valuable biogas.
Explaining the project, the company said that the wastewater first goes through a screen and a Idraflot® dissolved air flotation unit to retain fat, oil and grease (FOG) and suspended solids before entering the Biobed® EGSB granular biomass anaerobic treatment unit where over 80% of the chemical oxygen demand (COD) is removed.
This treatment stage produces about 45% of the biogas generated at the plant. The FOG retained in the DAF is combined with other organic waste and sent to a Biobulk™ CSTR unit for purification and further biogas production, it added.
The company continuously carries out activities aimed at reducing its carbon emissions by 15%. The 3,600 m3/day wastewater treatment plant allows a total daily production of 8,980 newton cubic metres of biogas which is used in the factory boilers, resulting in considerable savings on natural gas and contributing significantly to Pınar Süt’s sustainability targets, Veolia said.
Commenting on the developemnt, Ozlem Yalçın, Pınar Süt Izmir plant director said, “Thanks to the projects implemented in the Pınar Süt factory, the earnings from such holistic plants give us trust for the future and further steps in the name of our prior sustainability policy.”
Agreeing with him,Thierry Froment, CEO Middle East for Veolia Water Technologies, said, “This project perfectly illustrates the purpose of Veolia, which is to act for and contribute to ecological transformation. We are proud to bring our expertise to Pınar Süt through our advanced technologies that allow the reuse of treated wastewater and the production of renewable, clean energy, reducing the strain on local freshwater resources and the environmental footprint of the installation.”
Pınar Süt has three production facilities in Izmir, Eskisehir and Şanlıurfa and is also engaged in the production of many commodities