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A new water recycling plant at the Fredericia, Denmark brewery of Carlsberg
will reuse 90% of its process water and reduce overall site consumption by
10%. But how?
virtually eliminate water waste, and one of
the most water-e cient large breweries
in the world. It is estimated that the total
water recycling plant will also reduce the
brewery’s energy consumption by 10%
through its own biogas production and the
recirculation of hot water.
The water recycling plant focuses
solely on process water used by Fredericia
for the sanitation and cleaning of
equipment and bottles - not for water
in brewing. Waste process water was
previously sent to the drain as it contains
constituents such as detergent, bacteria,
salts and a relatively high concentration
of soluble organics like sugars. However,
the new water treatment and recovery
plant enables the brewery to reuse 90%
of this water in its sanitation and cleaning
processes.
A 90-minute drive west of
Copenhagen, the Fredericia brewery
was inaugurated in September 1979.
Comprising a brewery, bottling plant and
warehouse terminal, the site employs
more than 600 people across a host of
business functions.
The state-of-the-art water recycling
plant currently being installed at
Fredericia is the result of a progressive
public-private partnership named DRIP
(the Danish partnership for resource
and water-e cient industrial food
production). DRIP comprises not only
technology providers and universities,
but the Danish environmental, food
and veterinary authorities. Engineering
consultancy NIRAS is both leading the
project at Fredericia and providing the
construction services. Its engagement
began with a feasibility study from an
economic and stakeholder perspective,
explains Søren Nøhr Bak, expertise
director at NIRAS. “One of the main
challenges of this project is to achieve
good assessment and control of
stakeholder engagement.”
When the brewery became operational
in 1979, the industry norm was to
operate on 700-1,000 litres of water
per 100 litres of beer, but Fredericia
managed to function on 400. In the
years since, following the introduction
of further e ciencies, this quantity has
reduced to 290 litres. The achievement is
particularly impressive when considering
the complexity of the site, which brews
more than 200 di erent products for the
Carlsberg portfolio.
“Our assessments of Fredericia led to
the acknowledgement that this could be
a prime, ground-breaking project for the
worldwide brewing industry, which would
bring about further signi cant water
usage reductions in a viable and safe way,”
says Nøhr Bak.
By Steed Webzell
WASTE MANAGEMENT
S ince the introduction of its
‘Together Towards ZERO’
sustainability programme in
2017, the Carlsberg Group has
set its sights on zero carbon
emissions and zero water waste at its
breweries. The ultimate goal is to reduce
from 340 litres of water per 100 litres of
beer (the 2015 baseline), to 170 litres of
water per 100 litres of beer by 2030.
To assist in this ambitious evolution,
Carlsberg’s Fredericia brewery in Denmark
has been selected as a test site for the
company’s rst total water recycling
plant, which will be fully operational by
spring 2021. The new installation will
recycle 90% of all process water to reduce
average consumption at the site. This feat
will make Fredericia the rst brewery to
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