C212
- Mainland Products Ltd, Christchurch – Canterbury region
Summary
Mainland Products have made savings of $65,000 per year
with just two of the projects they have implemented as a part
of a cleaner production programme. The combined payback for
these projects was under two weeks. For Mainland Products,
introducing a cleaner production approach has provided an
ideal companion to the planned implementation of an environmental
management system.
Business Profile
The Mainland Products Ltd dairy food
processing plant in Blenheim Road, Christchurch collects and
processes about 125 million litres of milk each year into
a range of milk and cultured food products. Originally Meadow
Fresh Foods Ltd, the company changed ownership in 1998 becoming
a part of the larger Mainland Foods group of companies. The
company retained the Meadow Fresh brand name.
Type of Projects
Product waste reduction.
Reasons for Projects
The management team at the Blenheim
Road plant saw the opportunity to implement cleaner production
practices into their site as complimentary to their plans
to implement an environmental management system. The site
was well suited to a systematic approach to environmental
improvement having already established a team based management
style.
Target Zero
The Mainland Products (Blenheim Rd)
plant has been a participant in Target Zero, a two-year sponsored
cleaner production programme involving 12 companies in Christchurch
and 10 in Hawkes Bay. The programme was sponsored by the Sustainable
Management Fund of the Ministry for the Environment, Meridian
Energy Ltd (formerly ECNZ), and the local authority and electricity
company in each area.
The Projects
Reducing pipework
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Description
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When the UHT (ultra heat treated) milk
processing plant was installed some years ago, pipework
was provided for a "direct filling" option to provide
plant flexibility. In practice this was rarely if ever
used. In the course of daily operation this unnecessary
pipe was ‘filled’ with milk, and due to the aseptic
nature of the process, could not be recovered at the
end of each day’s run. During cleaning of the rest of
the pipework this was drained to waste.
The milk discarded each day amounted to
a cost of $35,000 per annum.
Removing the redundant section shortened
the pipework loop from sterilisers to fillers and reduced
the amount of milk that had to be discarded.
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Environmental Benefit
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Reduced trade waste discharge volume and
loading.
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Other Benefits
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Increased production.
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Economic Benefit
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Capital cost $500
Savings $35,000/annum
Payback 1 week
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Cultured Food Batch Size Rationalisation
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Description
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Batches of cultured foods (yoghurt, sour cream, etc)
are prepared in a mixing tank. One and one half mix-tanks
are required for each culturing batch to meet the present
market volume demands.
Product loss and wastage from draining, product transfer,
and washing two mix-tanks was substantial.
By changing to one larger mixing tank, only one mix
was required per culturing batch and product wastage
was reduced.
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Environmental Benefit
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Reduced trade waste discharge volume and loading.
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Other Benefits
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Increased production.
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Economic Benefit
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Capital cost $1,500
Savings $30,000/annum
Payback 3 weeks
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For additional information contact:
Clive Bleaken
Mainland Products Ltd
PO Box 6027
Christchurch
Phone (03) 343 7427
Fax (03) 343 7425
clive.bleaken@mainland.co.nz
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For further information about the Target Zero programme
see following publication:
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You too can profit from cleaner production and
waste minimisation
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Coordinating cleaner production programmes. Lessons
from Target Zero
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