How dairy processors can reduce water waste

Dairy processors could look to new technologies to address water sustainability challenges

A 2015 report from the World Economic Forum said that water shortages will be the Earth’s biggest threat in the next decade. Meanwhile, data from UN-Water show that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will be experiencing water scarcity, while two-thirds of the world’s population could be living in still-concerning conditions of water stress.

The dairy processing industry has been among those investing heavily in developing technologies and processes to reduce the need for water and enable efficient recycling, according to a report from GEA Systems North America. Part of Dusseldorf, Germany-based GEA, the company is among the suppliers helping dairy plants to address water sustainability challenges.

Mark Braun, product manager – membrane filtration for GEA, notes that many larger new plant operations in the United States have been built in “semi-arid areas” such as Texas, Arizona and Idaho, where “they have to be very careful on their water usage in the plant.” And states such as California have pushed strongly toward greater regulations of wastewater treatment, moving in the direction of more regulated European countries.

“There has been a […]

Full article: How dairy processors can reduce water waste

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