Next step, CO2 neutral...

• Sustainable and energy-efficient bakery radically cuts CO2 emissions
• Its energy strategy reduces energy consumption by half

Ihr Bäcker Schüren is a German bakery almost completely sustainable and energy efficient. The company's strategy is based on three energy-relevant pillars: hot, cold and heat recovery.

Viable plastic alternative

• Ten years of R&D pays off by discovering a second use for rice waste 
• Tackling an agricultural waste issue by transforming rice husk into plastics

La Cámara, cooperative storage and rice processing facilities established by farmers in the Ebro River Delta in 1927, processes about 40 000 tonnes of rice per year, which accounts for around a third of the Delta production.

The 4Ps of success

• SME collects and re-uses coffee grounds to produce mushrooms
• 25 % of turnover in 2018, concludes three years of increasing turnover

PermaFungi, an urban agricultural and circular economy organisation in Brussels, collects and re-uses coffee grounds from restaurants to cultivate and sell mushrooms and endives, produce compost and biodegradable lights.

Consumers are fully aware of companies deliberately reducing the useful life of products through planned or built-in obsolescence, along with its negative impact on the environment.

Extending the lifetime and durablility of products is essential to optimise the use of resources and minimise waste generation, which are the principles of a circular economy.

In the food industry, raw materials account for about 45 % of net sales. The cost of purchasing goods sold in the grocery trade is more than 70 % of turnover. Therefore, measures to improve material efficiency are a major competitive factor enabling a company to achieve significant savings. In small and medium-sized food companies, the typical savings potential found in material audits is on average € 600 000 per company and year.

Making the most of a heated situation

• Finnish sawmill company improved its energy efficiency by 22 %
• Major savings were achieved by investing in new continuous drying kilns and related heat recovery and control systems

Versowood is a Finnish timber and wood products company. Among its production facilities, it has four saws for processing raw material. These saws produce around 1.35 million cubic metres of timber which needs to be dried onsite.

Compressed air plays a major part in many industries and almost 13 % of all the industry-related electricity consumption goes towards generating compressed air. Traditional compressors use oil and even the standard 'oil-free-dry-screw' compressor technology needs some oil for lubrication. Finnish company Tamturbo has developed new completely oil-less compressors which are based on active magnetic bearings. As the rotating parts are levitating there is no need for oiling and parts don’t wear out.

Combustion needs fuel, ignition, and oxygen. Normal air contains only 21 % oxygen and most of the rest is nitrogen which is only ballast and has no part in combustion. Using pure oxygen increases combustion efficiency significantly as there is no ballast to be heated up. This method has traditionally been used for smelting, but since the 1990s it has also been available for (re)heating furnaces. AGA which is part of the Linde Group has developed the technology and sells both new installations and refitted furnaces.

Not a single bone to waste...

• Food-processing company introduces ambitious zero food-waste programme in its fish production
• Company has also emphasised ecological packaging and managed to reduce plastic waste and carbon emissions in its procurement practices

Kalavapriikki Oy is a manufacturer of fish, meat, fruit and vegetable products. It is part of the Finnish Heino wholesale concern. Fish production has been the company’s core activity and it is recognised for its high-quality produce.