The door is open for suppliers to create new ways to help packers and processors decrease water usage, and find alternatives for sludge disposal
By Larry Aylward, managing editor
Water, water everywhere. Wastewater, wastewater everywhere. That's what packers and processors say to themselves every day. And then there's sludge-or rather the politically correct industry term, secondary protein nutrients.
"Compared to other types of industries, packers and processors use a tremendous amount of water," a wastewater treatment company official points out.
"What to do with sludge is becoming a key issue," another official points out. "Sludge disposal is difficult. Renderers take a lot of it, but they won't take sludge that has certain materials in it."
The race is on for companies to develop equipment and technology to reduce water usage and sludge buildup. In many instances, however, it's a simple matter of conservation. Many packers and processors are wasting water.
One equipment manufacturer is introducing a recent technology that reduces the amount of water used and the amount of wastewater created. It is a zero-discharge, low-temperature, evaporative recovery and treatment system, which is new to the meat industry but currently used in other industries, such as electroplating.
"The system boils away water at about 2.5 cents a gallon," a spokesman for the manufacturer says. "Because the water is boiled at about 100 degrees F and is under a vacuum, the system can obtain between 93 percent and 96 percent reduction."
That means 100 gallons of wastewater that would be treated conventionally or hauled away would be reduced to 5 gallons of wastewater, the spokesman claims. The system would then return the other 95 gallons of distilled water back to the packer or processor.
"Packers and processors are paying a ton of money for water usage alone," the spokesman adds. "And they're paying a ton of money to process huge volumes of water. If this system can reduce the amount of sewage they have to treat, then they have to purchase a much smaller sewage treatment system."
Big savings can be had, the spokesman adds. Packers and processors would also be cutting down on hauling expenses.
Ironically, another official points out that wastewater treatment tends to be a secondary issue with many packers and processes, who are only looking to make money inside their plants.
"Their products are their main source of money," the official says. "But wastewater problems can be a source of lost income. [Packers and processors] don't realize that. They are experts as far as their products, but they don't have the expertise in dealing with the treatment systems that are available."
Packers and processors have various effluent limits in accordance with local laws. Many do not realize the difference between a soluble or insoluble product in the water, the official claims.
"Inevitably, what happens is people purchase products for services that don't fit their needs," the official points out.
Packers and processors should also keep in mind that wastewater systems may have to change if a packer or processor expands its business or changes occur in local environmental laws.
The sludge factor will always be an issue. Sludge is loaded with protein, fat, oil and grease. "The problem is getting the material dry enough so it's economically justifiable to go back to rendering," an official notes.
Certain polymers and a new combination of chemicals, such as acidification, are helping to prevent moisture in sludge. Belt presses and centrifuges are utilized to dry sludge, but that equipment is expensive to operate, an official claims. So suppliers are looking for less expensive alternatives.
Hatfield, Pa.-based Hatfield Quality Meats Inc., which operates its own wastewater plant, utilizes a rotary-drum dryer on sludge and transforms it into fertilizer for land application.
The poultry industry uses secondary protein to put back into the feed cycle. But it is from chemical-free skimmings.
Hatfield's Scott Clemens points out that a cost-effective, special polymer has to be used to treat sludge that can be put back into the feed cycle. FDA has not approved such a polymer to be used in the process.
"We're waiting for some mad scientist to come up with a polymer that will meet the guidelines that FDA and the Environmental Protection Agency will approve," Clemens notes.
The door is open for suppliers to create new ways to help packers and processors decrease water usage and find alternatives for sludge disposal.