From Waste Streams - Apr/May 2006
www.WasteStreams.com.au
Converting wastewater salt into cleaning compound
Dairy companies are closing the recycling
Researchers involved with the Dairy Australia-funded project at Food Science Australia in Sydney are only months away from discovering a way to recycle the salty water that forms in waste milk after the solids have separated from the liquid.
According to Dairy Australia's head of resource management and technology, Neil van Buuren, the researchers are exploring a simple concept that could deliver significant environmental benefits.
"As well as being environmentally responsible, dairy manufacturers would save thousands of dollars by recycling wastewater and reducing the amount of salt in effluent," Mr van Buuren said.
"The salt would be used to make alkaline and acidic cleaning compounds, which would also reduce the need to purchase concentrated cleaners.
"While this discovery would have immediate benefits for dairy manufacturers, dairy farmers should be able to use the same technology on their farms and get the same benefits," Mr van Buuren said.
Researchers in the US have also discovered a new way to clean and disinfect milking equipment using electrolysed oxidising water.
This water is created when the electric current flowing through two electrodes - immersed in a weak salt solution and separated by a membrane - produces an alkaline and an acidic solution.
"The US researchers and Australian researchers have used the same science, but with a different raw produce," Mr van Buuren said.
"The Australian researchers are trying to recycle a waste product, not create a new salt solution," he said.
This project is part of the Closing the Loop initiative which is funded by Dairy Australia and The Geoffrey Gardiner Dairy Foundation. It aims to cut the environmental footprint of Australia's dairy factories. The third research partner is the Department of Primary Industries.
