Тема 13: ecology in food industry

Active Vocabulary

1. waste (v., n.) – (n) потеря, ущерб, убыток, порча, трата, отходы, отбросы;

(v) расточать, терять, тратить, портить, опустошать, истощать

2. hazard (n., v.) – риск, опасность, помеха; рисковать, осмеливаться

hazardous (adj) ['hæzədəs] – рискованный, опасный

3. to valorize – поддерживать ч.–л. с помощью государственных мероприятий, (ре)валоризировать

4. discharge (n., v.) – разгрузка, освобождение, спуск, слив, выделение; выбрасывать, спускать, сливать, выгружать

5. to embed – вставлять, укреплять, внедрять, включать, встраивать

6. utility – сооружение, предприятие, установка, приспособление

7. effluent – сточные воды, жидкие промышленные отходы, сток

8. to screen – сортировать, просеивать, отбирать

9. pyrolysis [pai'rolisis] – пиролиз, терморазложение при исключении кислорода

10. incineration – сжигание, сгорание, прокаливание

11. tertiary ['tə:∫əri] treatment – эффективная переработка отходов производства (третья стадия обработки)

12. to pollute [pə'lu:t] – загрязнять, осквернять

13. pollution – загрязнение, запыление, загазованность

14. pollutant – поллютант, загрязнитель, загрязняющий агент

15. to dump – разгружать, сбрасывать отходы (в море), сваливать

16. to strip – снимать, сдирать, счищать, опустошать, отгонять

Food and drink industry is one of the most important industry sectors. The principal sectors in the food industry are the meat processing, bakery, dairy, and malt and soft drinks industries.

However, food industry produces large amounts of waste that are usually not hazardous, but mostly they are of biodegradable origin. Beside, many of the sub-branches also produce large amounts of effluent water with high chemical oxygen demanding substances.

The avoidance of waste formation and pollution is always a key task, but on the other hand, waste prevention, minimization and valorization, and the use of energy efficient process technologies are more and more desirable options in waste management as these streams from food industry are usually rich in valuable compounds (e.g. oils, sugars, antioxidants, etc.). The controlling of raw material, water and energy use, as well the utilization of by-products and reducing the effluent discharge lead towards the realization of industrial ecology in food industry.

Recycling preservation of embedded utilities and the design of a product to create other useful are sometimes carried out in the case of packaging materials and spent process water, but one should always consider food approval and safety in first respect. Waste prevention measures include prevention, reduction at source and re-use of products, while waste minimization also includes waste management measures, the quality improvements (e.g. reducing of hazards) and recycling.

Technologies for waste prevention and minimization

Waste prevention and minimization are key issues in food industry because of the large amounts of wastes and effluents usually generated.

Technologies for solid waste treatment can be divided into:

• Pre–treatment technologies: mechanical separation, sorting, screening, pressing and drying

• Final treatment: composting, anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis, incineration and dumping.

Technologies for wastewater treatment include:

• pre-treatment: mechanical separation of coarse particles

• primary treatment: removal of suspended solids by physical or physical-chemical treatment. Also includes neutralization, stripping and removal of oil and grease.

• secondary treatment: elimination of colloids from wastewater by chemical or biological processes.

• tertiary treatment: physical and chemical processes to eliminate defined pollutants such as phosphate, ammonia, heavy metals, etc.

• The main technologies of wastewater include:

• mechanical treatment: that leads to the separation of wastewater components due to particle size or density differences to water. These are usually coarse, floating or sedimenting particles and liquid layers like oil or grease films.

• Biological treatment.

• Physical-chemical treatment.

Agro-food industry generates high volume of wastewater and high amounts of solid waste that causes environmental problems and means cost for companies in terms that it has to be managed. The focus should always be on prevention, as it is always more economic to prevent and reduce waste than to clean it up.