Food & Beverages

Biography

Biography: Danielle de Bem Luiz

Abstract

With the increasing global population the demand for processedfood is also rising and, consequently, greater amounts of drinking water are required for use in the food industry, a sector whichalready consumes large volumes of water. Agencies worldwide encourage the implementation of strategies for water management in all sectors. Considering hygiene concerns, the food industryneeds to apply water management strategies.The applied model of food industry water management (FIWM) consists of seven stages: 1.Collection and analysis of documents; 2.Water balance; 3.Identification of the points of greatest water consumption; 4.Minimization of water consumption; 5.Evaluation of the potential for direct water reuse and recycling; 6.Evaluation of the potential for indirect water reuse and recycling; and 7.Maintenance of water management. However, for this model to work effectively, it is also necessary tocarry out solid waste management (SWM). Hence, an economic evaluation stage shouldbe added, since there are several gains associated with the implementation of FIWM+SWM: reduced consumption of water and energy; loweremissions of pollutants and organic solids in the effluent; reducedcost of wastewater and solid wastetreatment; increased involvement of the industry inthe concepts of cleaner production; more environmentally conscious actions (green marketing) taken by the company; the production of edible or inedible co-products from waste; and increased competitiveness of the company. Considering the water stress related todensely populated and highly industrialized areas around the world, FIWM+SWMmodels address the issues of environmental and economic concerns and aid the achievement of sustainable food production.