Disposal of spent bleaching earth One of the largest struggles in regards to waste management 40 has been the disposal of spent bleaching earth. For many years this material has been sent to landfill style facilities and has had very little purpose for reuse due to its classification as hazardous during transportation. AAK Louisville has been able to work with its local landfill facility to use this material and in turn fully recycle the spent In addition to being energy-intensive, vegetable oil processing requires large amounts of water, mainly for cooling and steam production. Most AAK products do not contain water on leaving the plants. Water consumption Combined, the Group’s production plants use approximately 25,000,000 m³ of surface water. This water, which is used for cooling, has no contact with products or pollutants and is returned to the source without any change in quality. The discharged water may, however, be slightly warmer than when entering the Group’s system. Ground water and municipal water used in processing totalled 2,300,000 m³, the same as last year. However, bleaching earth. The recycling facility use the spent bleaching earth for base material and coverage internally in their process. This has not only increased the recycled content in the Louisville facility but has also, as an added benefit, lowered disposal costs dramatically. This has been a major contribution to AAK’s waste management initiative and will continue to improve throughout the coming years. calculated as processing water per MT produced, consumption decreased by 4 percent. Water discharge When water is discharged, its quality is measured by two different methods: BOD5 (biochemical oxygen demand) and COD (chemical oxygen demand). This determines the degree of pollution and has to be within stipulated limit values. The method used is defined by the local authorities. Total BOD5 for sites using this method was 205 MT while COD was 1,023 MT. Measurements are within the stipulated limits. All discharged water from AAK sites is treated at own or municipal treatment plants. Water Water consumption x 1000 m3 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Water discharge x 1000 m3 2000 1500 1000 500 0 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Hållbarhetsrapport 2015/2016
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