Towards a resource-efficient revolution by implementing a smart resource-saving cleaning process

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

BACKGROUND

The EU's food sector is regarded as one of Europes economic sectors with the largest environmental impact by accounting for 10% of the EU's total greenhouse gas emissions in 2015. Also, high numbers of fossil fuels are being used in the food transport sector.

EPS is a market leader in the field of reusable packaging in the fresh supply chain. Instead of using cardboard or wood packaging, reusable plastic crates are being used and brought back into the supply chain after washing. While reusable plastic crates (used for transportation of food) have already been introduced to contribute to EUs circular economy, washing and drying measures of these crates put a significant burden on the environment; washing tracks consume 151 512 m3 of gas per year per track and emit 486 tons CO2 per year per track. Smart resource-saving technologies that minimise the need for gas and energy, are paramount in reducing these numbers. However, despite undertaken actions, such technologies are still lacking. Much focus has been put on the exploitation of current designs and upsizing of washing installations with very limited results so far. Introduction of an innovative resource- and energy-saving technology (innovative washer combined with a dryer) to industries that make use of reusable plastic crates could potentially lead to a reduction of 77% in CO2 emission, 63% reduction in electrical energy use and 100% reduction in gas use.

OBJECTIVES

The overall aim of the project LIFE NAUTILUS is to develop a smart resource-saving technology, a next generation washer combined with a novel centrifuge, to minimise gas and electrical energy use in cleaning technologies for recyclable plastic crates to make packaging more sustainable and resource-efficient.

The project has the following objectives:

to demonstrate a novel washing process for cleaning plastic crates with significant environmental benefits, by making the need for warm water obsolete and minimisingthe need for electrical energy for the washing and by introducing a novel centrifugal dryer to dry the crates; and

to establish replicability and transferability to other industries and sectors, by a comprehensive strategy and an effective dissemination plan to utilise its full environmental impact potential.

The project is in line with the Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe (COM(2011) 571 final) and other EU policy relating to energy and resource use efficiency, and climate change mitigation.

RESULTS

Expected results:

the reduction of use of natural gas and electrical energy will both result in a significant reduction of CO2 emissions. Since no natural gas will be used and the use of electrical energy will be significantly reduced, CO2 emissions can be reduced to 142 tons CO2 per year per track, thus saving 344 tons CO2 per year per track;

further reduction of CO2 is expected from the innovative drying process:by eliminating the need for hot air, natural gas and electricity can be saved, leading to a CO2 saving of 16 tons CO2, instead of 213 tons CO2 for blower dryers used for crate washed with cold water; and

washing costs can be reduced (18.5%) with at least 0.0051 per crate, due to both cleaning time and reductions in gas and electrical energy use. This results in yearly cost savings of around 92 000 for beneficiary EPS.