Making the most of whey
Industrial food production requires water. But how can this limited resource be used mindfully?
Together with us here at Tetra Pak, Mammen Dairies in Denmark has found a solution. Mammen Dairies, a producer of high-quality cheese since 1911, has installed a reverse osmosis membrane filtration system for whey concentration. Whey is a valuable by-product of cheese production. The whey contains water and proteins, and the filtration system removes approximately 75% of the water from the whey. The concentrated whey protein is then sold to producers of ingredients for infant formula and sports nutrition drinks.
The filtration system makes a big difference to Mammen Dairies’ bottom line – and to their environmental footprint, as it reduces the number of truckloads of whey protein they need to transport. The annual savings amount to 150 tons of diesel and 460,000 km’s on the road.
But what about the water from the whey? It is purified in the built-in reverse osmosis polisher and used for cleaning the dairy equipment. By recovering the demineralized process water, the dairy has reduced its water intake by 143 tons per day.
View video Membrane filtration for whey at Mammen Dairies
