FOOD & DRINK INDUSTRY NEWS

10 May 2010 • David Lancaster

Food Manufacturing: Resource Efficiency Solutions Delivered

With rising input costs, many food businesses need to continually look at resource efficiency – energy, water and waste - within their business. Cost savings can often be identified with little or no additional capital investment required.

ADAS understands food supply chains and the environmental impact within these, and is able to work with food manufacturers and their supply base to bring about change, achieving with business and environmental benefit.

ADAS Consultants have the ability to work through the complex and linked interactions between each of these areas: waste, water, energy and carbon to come up with innovative practical solutions.

ADAS is able to understand the sustainable development and resource efficiency agenda and able to translate that agenda into practical cost saving solutions that provide real value to clients.

In recent energy efficiency projects, ADAS has identified 10% savings, sometimes nearer 20% in energy costs, plus the associated spin off of reduced carbon emissions.

ADAS Services:

Energy Efficiency - reducing electricity use and saving costs. ADAS completes energy mapping surveys and identifies the energy peaks and non productive energy use within the factory process, and implements energy saving programmes, either with no requirement for capital investment or investment in energy saving technology with a short payback.

Waste Management & Waste to Energy - ADAS looks at options to reduce, recycle and reuse waste, coupled with alternative waste disposal options. Feasibility of 'waste to energy' opportunities - generating heat/electricity from waste disposal - Anaerobic Digestion - identifying the appropriate feedstock, biogas yield, and digestate disposal to agricultural use.

Water Efficiency - reducing water use in factory - efficiency gains, investment in water saving technologies and rain water harvesting. ADAS also looks at the management of risk from water scarcity in supply chains, derisking and scenario planning, and the impact of climate change.

Carbon Management - reduced carbon emissions - what scope is there in both the factory and the supply chain? Where are the carbon 'hotspots'? Develop and implement Carbon Improvement Plans in factory and supply chains. Investigate the quick efficiency gains, possible investment in low carbon technologies and/or structural change within supply chains.                                                                 

For more detail and case studies regarding Carbon foot printing etc see www.adas.co.uk/Home/ADASCarbonfootprintingcampaign/tabid/233/Default.aspx

ADAS is able to access potential funding for some of this resource efficiency work, through grants available from, for example, The Carbon Trust and Manufacturing Advisory Service, though there are strict criteria on eligibility depending on size of business and geographic location.

For more information about ADAS resource efficiency services please contact David Lancaster on 01775 680878 or email David.Lancaster@adas.co.uk

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