Water Usage

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This index shows the ratio of water used for each metric ton of feedstock crushed or processed. It is measured in cubic meters per metric ton (m³/MT).

We exceeded our reduction target through a combination of leakage control, water recycling and process improvements.

Year-on-year change

Down

1.2%

At our juice processing plant in Bebedouro, São Paulo State, Brazil, water used to wash dry fruit peel was previously discarded as unusable due to its high sugar and nitrate content. A filtration system with an evaporator was installed to concentrate, recover and recycle this water, enabling us to reuse 25 to 30m³ of water every hour. This amounts to about 600m³ per day, and over 16,000m³ per month.
In Claypool, Indiana, US, water used in degumming – the process whereby gums and lecithin are removed from crude soybean – was previously discarded as sewage. A degumming condensate recovery system was installed, sending recovered water to the plant’s boiler, which led to environmental benefits on several fronts: saving water, reducing water treatment, cutting natural gas consumption and avoiding heat loss.
In Dongguan, China, a major new wastewater recycling initiative resulted in a 33% year-on-year reduction in water consumption.

Case Study

Water Savings in China

Our Zhangjiagang oilseeds processing plant in China decreased its annual water consumption by 0.05m3/MT, leading to an annual cost saving of US$53,000.

To achieve this, the main actions taken were:

Reduce freshwater consumption by using cooling tower water to cool expanders’ refrigeration oil, and recycle used cooling water to the cooling tower.

Recycle water to the cooling plant after cooling the centrifuge seal and lecithin film evaporator seals.

Self-circulation of working water, recycling and reusing the water from two ring pumps in the lecithin processing system, and one ring pump in the oil dryer system.