The beverage sector moving towards sustainable factories

We are in the midst of a climate crisis. All over the globe, natural resources are in short supply. An ever-growing number of people and companies are striking out in a new direction, whether out of a sense of responsibility towards future generations or in response to rising energy costs and carbon dioxide taxes, or possibly both. Enterprises have noticed that consumers are keen to buy “green” products. Many businesses are launching a process of transformation in their operations to ensure a viable future for coming generations. And the beverage sector is no exception here. The members of the Krones Factory Planning team have noticed this customer trend towards sustainable operations over the last eight years. 

Therefore, the department offers comprehensive sustainability consultancy  as a separate service for the beverage, dairy and plastics-recycling industries. A group of experts led by Bernd Rothmeier, Head of Plant Engineering and Consulting, sustainability consultant Norbert Ottmann and product manager Michael Russ, assists customers in systematically reducing operating costs and CO₂ emissions and in designing their operations for enhanced sustainability. Norbert Ottmann explains what sustainability means for Krones and the expert consultants: “Our work is guided by the UN’s sustainable development goals, SDGs for short, with a special focus on sufficiency, efficiency and consistency. We match these to the beverage industry’s specific business environment.”

* SDGs: Sustainable Development Goals 

Three steps to sustainability

Krones’ sustainability consultancy is typically requested in connection with modernisation or new-construction/installation projects, says Norbert Ottmann. He continues: “Before investing in a new boiler house, for example, companies seek our advice on which configuration is best for them. A traditional gas boiler, a combined heat and power system, a heat pump, or a combination of these elements?” The goals vary significantly from one customer to the next. Some companies are considering building a climate-neutral factory, some want to cut costs, and others wish to calculate their climate impact to determine their carbon footprint. Yet others would like to have a fully self-sufficient facility. So every consultancy job begins by formulating the specific goals together with the customer, while never losing sight of commercial viability.

Step One : feasibility study

The first thing that our consultants undertake is a feasibility study. This includes a detailed as-is analysis, or (for a new construction) a detailed listing of all the expected factory requirements. How much energy, heat or water is consumed – where and when? What is the process sequence? Are there any peaks in demand? Is it possible to recover energy? Where and when are wastewater, waste heat and organic waste produced? And how much of each? What are the local environmental conditions? Many of these details will already be on file, others are recorded by the Krones team at the customer’s premises, as Norbert Ottmann explains: “Our supply-technology audits include measuring the condition of the compressed air, heating and refrigeration systems, and assessing the overall status of all systems.”

And the inevitable question: Will it pay off?

Step Two: conceptual solutions

Based on the feasibility study, a number of conceptual solutions are then formulated. In keeping with the guiding principles of “Avoid, optimise, recycle”, the primary focus is on reducing all consumption figures as far as possible. Next, the relevant production processes are analysed in order to find out whether they offer any scope for recovering energy and/or media. If so, they are improved accordingly. The team then checks how the remaining demand can be covered by recycling and/or by using renewable energies. Should the specific conditions at the facility necessitate the additional use of conventional energy sources, state-of-the-art and ultra-efficient supply systems are deployed. 

In actual practice, the expert consultants consider the whole range of levers that can be pulled to render the project feasible, effective and cost-efficient. For example: While some companies can deploy heat pumps to make optimum use of waste heat, other firms will do much better with a CHP system. Breweries, for their part, produce a great deal of organic waste, and here the team estimates the amount of energy that could be obtained as a result. Innovative Innovative wastewater recycling systems can reduce water consumption while also generating biogas. Mineral water companies can utilise geothermal energy – from the heat of the water extracted. Our expert team determines how much energy can be generated from renewable sources at the facility in question, e.g. solar thermal energy or photovoltaics. They examine whether it is possible to store heat, power or cooling energy. All the time checking whether the scenario will actually pay off.

Sustainability rigorously targeted throughout the group

Krones itself has also affirmed its ongoing commitment to sustainability. The group is a member of the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform and the Science Based Targets Initiative. It has defined ambitious targets in regard to climate protection and the circular economy and is rigorously pursuing them. This has definitely been noticed by the public, says Bernd Rothmeier: “Our in-house efforts in this regard lend our sustainability-consultancy service a high degree of credibility among our customers.” What it boils down to is that our own and our customers’ activities mutually support and strengthen each other because every single sustainability concept which is implemented helps everyone to achieve their own climate targets along the entire value added chain.

“Our sustainability consultancy is not tied to Krones products. In the early phases of project development in particular, it is important to focus on identifying the optimum solution, irrespective of possible vendors.” Bernd RothmeierHead of Plant Engineering and Consulting