A new offer within Tetra Pak’s broader sustainability portfolio, the ‘Factory Sustainable Solutions’ business offers Food and Beverage (F&B) producers a tailored blend of state-of-the-art technologies and leading plant integration capabilities. It seeks to support F&B producers in optimising energy and resource consumption, an important step in helping customers meet their sustainability ambitions and reduce operational costs.
Traditionally reliant on fossil fuels and energy-intensive processes,1 F&B producers are under increasing pressure to optimise resources and increase energy generation from renewable sources. This comes amidst rising operational expenses, including the cost of raw materials, as well as new CO2 taxes and fees for wasted water. Finding solutions to these challenges will be key, with businesses looking to their supply chains and manufacturing processes to help achieve cost savings2.
Complementing its resource-efficient equipment and services portfolio, Tetra Pak’s ‘Factory Sustainable Solutions’ embodies a systematic, factory-wide approach. Solutions can be integrated at any stage to recover and reduce the consumption of resources, such as energy, water and chemicals. Optimised resource consumption reduces long-term operational costs3 and related greenhouse gas emissions4, whilst supporting compliance against ever-tightening sustainability standards.
The Tetra Pak Factory Sustainable Solutions team will support customers by finding the right technologies and integration solutions for their needs, advising them on the best practice set-up for their line or facility. This results in a tailored pipes and installation diagram that optimises water, energy and CIP according to the specific needs of the customer’s operations.
The ‘Factory Sustainable Solutions’ offering boasts state-of-the-art technologies, such as:
- Nanofiltration, which reclaims caustic cleaning liquid used for CIP. This solution, developed by Tetra Pak, allows for the recovery of clean chemicals and water for future re-use, enabling up to 90% recovery of the total spent liquid5.
- Reverse Osmosis, uses proprietary membrane filtration technology developed by Tetra Pak to improve resource efficiency across multiple applications, including milk separation and water re-use.
Tetra Pak is also collaborating with innovative technology partners to offer additional solutions, including:
- HighLift™ heat pump technology, in collaboration with Olvondo Technology A/S, which can be integrated into operations to facilitate the reuse of waste heat to produce steam across plant equipment, including the Tetra Pak Direct UHT unit, at pressures up to 10 bar.
- High temperature heat pumps, in collaboration with Johnson Controls, which up-cycles process waste heat to use elsewhere in the factory.
- Solar thermal collectors, in collaboration with Absolicon, which utilise the sun as an unlimited source of clean and renewable energy, to power the delivery of hot water and steam – at temperatures above 150°C – making it suitable for UHT applications.
Stefano Vittor, CEO at Olvondo Technology A/S, says “By incorporating our HighLift heat pump technology into its Factory Sustainable Solutions business, Tetra Pak is offering an impactful solution to reduce carbon emissions across the food and beverage industry. We’re delighted to be part of this collaboration and to play a role in the change that Tetra Pak is driving.”
Fredrik Norrbom, Director, Sweden at Johnson Controls System and Service AB added: “Approximately two-thirds of industrial energy use is driven by heat demand, derived largely from fossil fuels6. Heat pumps are vital for increasing energy efficiency and delivering net zero heating when combined with renewable electricity. We are proud to collaborate with Tetra Pak on smart building solutions that can help customers achieve sustainability targets while also helping industry make critical progress on emissions reduction.”
