INTERNATIONAL CLEANER PRODUCTION INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE

CASE STUDY #43

1. Headline: Reducing waste in the desiccated coconut

industry

2. Background: Before Peter Paul Philippines Corporation

entered a joint venture with Taiwan's Chia Meei company,

it was generating 80 000 liters a day of wasted coconut

water. The large volume of highly organic wastewater

generated is a major pollution problem in any desiccated

coconut (DCN) processing plant. The by-products of DCN

processing at Peter Paul before implementing coconut water

recovery were crude coconut oil and copra meal.

Peter Paul Philippines Corporation is one of the largest

firms producing desiccated coconut (DCN). It has a 13-

hectare facility located at Barrio Pahinga, Candelaria,

Quezon. It has a rated capacity of 22 000 tons of DCN per

year, mainly for export, and it employs more than 1700

people.

3. Cleaner Production Principle: Internal recycling

4. Description of Cleaner Production Application: As part of

the Industrial Environmental Management Project (IEMP), a

pollution management appraisal (PMA) was conducted at

Peter Paul Philippines Corporation. A PMA aims to identify

opportunities for reducing pollution using a waste

management hierarchy in which waste minimization is the

dominant component. One of the PMA recommendations was

segregation, recovery and recycling of coconut water. This

was realized when Peter Paul entered into a joint venture

with the Chia Meei company of Taiwan, which established a

plant next to Peter Paul.

Collected coconut water is channeled to the Chia Meei

plant for concentrating, freezing and final processing as a

commercial drink. Peter Paul improved its handling of shelled

and pared coconuts and installed a breaker to facilitate

collection of coconut water. The Chia Meei plant which started

operations in November 1993 requires 40 000 liters a day of

coconut water from Peter Paul. After Processing the coconut

water is shipped to Taiwan where it is produced as a commercial

juice.

Enabling technology: The Peter Paul and Chia Meei venture

involves exporting concentrated and frozen coconut water

for final processing in Taiwan. Coconut processing into a

commercial juice drink involves pasteurization and

centrifugation to produce a clear, non-oily solution for

packing in sterile containers.

5. Economics:

Savings: US$/year

treatment costs 3 700

increased output 370 000

The Chia Meei company was able to begin a new business

processing 40 000 liters a day of coconut water into a

commercial drink.

6. Advantages: The estimated biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)

level of wastewater from the Peter Paul facility was

reduced by about 50 percent. The annual avoided treatment

cost is approximately $3 700, assuming a 10 per cent

reduction in the $37 000 annual operating cost of the

wastewater treatment plant. Peter Paul and Chia Meei

company now profit from raw material once considered as

waste. Since workers are now paid per whole pared coconut,

they pare the coconut more carefully, resulting in a

better controlled paring thickness, less coconut wastage

and increased DCN production; and an increase of 13.6kg of

DCN per ton of coconuts processed resulted in an estimated

annual savings of $370 000, based on 10 000 tons of DCN

production per year.

7. Constraints: N/A

8. contacts:Mr Frank Klar

Resident Manager

Peter Paul Philippines Corporation

Barrio Pahinga, Candelaria, Quezon

The Philippines

Tel: +63 4 261 84307

Mr David L. Wadsworth

Industrial Environmental

Management Project

9th floor, JMT Corporate Condominium

ADB Avenue, Orgitas Complex

Pasig, Metro Manila

The Philippines

Tel: +63 2 634 1617 to 21

Fax: +63 2 634 1622

Dr Ronald S. Senykoff

Chief, NRD-USAID

Ramon Magsaysay Center

1680 Roxas Boulevard

Manila

The Philippines

Tel: +63 2 521 5226

Fax: +63 2 522 2512

9. Keywords:Philippines, food processing, coconut,

recycling, BOD, by-product, IEMP, USAID

10. Reviewer comments: This case study was originally

published in the UNEP IE document "Cleaner Production in the

ASIA and Pacific Economic Coorporation (APEC) Region. In the

process of preparing the document the case study underwent a

technical review.