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SOURCE OF ENGINEER
SOURCE OF ENGINEER

Environmental Problems

from Production Process and Solutions

Problems from Production Process in
Frozen Seafood Industry

Most wastewater is generated in raw material
1. Wastewater cleaning process or from other sources such as Examples of Basic Solutions for Environmental
in-office water consumption and cleaning of Impacts from Production Process
workers’ hands and feet, production lines or
containers. Wastewater from frozen seafood,
mostly fish, usually contains a high level of organic compound found Problem Analysis:
in fish meat, blood and fat, which contributes to higher level of BOD 1. Wastewater Treatment Management The production
(Biochemical Oxygen Demand), SS (Suspended Solids), oil and fat process that affects
in the water. The degree of contamination depends on the amount the contamination
of water used, which in turn is determined by various factors such as level in wastewater is the cleaning of raw materials, tools
raw material control, processing technology, raw material preparation and production areas. It is found that wastewater from
such as fish head and guts removal, and use of water for production this process contains organic parts with high protein and fat content.
line cleaning. Machine-based fish filleting process uses less water Even though a limited amount of wastewater is generated in some steps,
than manual method. Wastewater from production process is if the water is transferred to treatment systems without solid waste
transferred to treatment facilities, which may vary in terms of matters being filtered out, the density of contaminating substances is
characteristics depending on the size of business investment, likely to increase, thus leading to additional burdens and expenses for
wastewater quality, factory environment and other factors. From these treatment procedure.
facilities, the treated water may then be transferred to public water Solution Approaches: An emphasis should be put on effective
sources or stored within the factory’s precincts. management through good practice in order to reduce leakage and
overuse of water. A reduction by 5% of water use can be achieved
1) Raw material waste refers to remaining parts without additional monetary investment. Another factor to be considered
2. Waste of aquatic animals not used for production or is the possibility of reusing, for example, condensate and blowdown
consumption. Each type of aquatic animal leaves water to reduce the final amount of wastewater and expenses for
different kinds of waste. Fish such as tuna and treatment systems. Avoid transferring rainwater and contaminated liquid
salmon, for example, generate post-production not originating from production process such as wastewater from
waste of less than 40%. The unused parts of aquatic animals can be kitchens, staff residences and offices to treatment ponds. Further
sold to feed manufacturers. In some factories, waste may be plant- solutions include implementing gravity flow system, transferring the final
based such as sesames since plants are used as part of the products. treated water back to the initial stabilization ponds and creating wetlands.
2) Plastic waste originates from packaging of acquired supplies
as well as from those manufactured by the factories themselves. All 2. Reduction of Waste from Problems: Raw
industrial plastic waste can be collected and sold to a third party Cutting Process materials that pass the
buyer. quality check process
3) Paper waste such as water-absorbing papers or damaged will be filleted, trimmed
product cartons is mostly generated from administrative offices while or cut to achieve desired shapes. Unwanted parts will be
some may be generated in production process. Most paper waste eliminated. In ineffective operation, a great deal of waste
will be generated here.
can be sold to a third party while those that can’t be sold will be Solution Approaches: Since manpower is still essential to raw
disposed of by various means such as incineration or landfill, usually material cutting process, the improvement mostly has to focus on the
carried out by manufacturers or, alternatively, by an outsourced development and training of staff. For machine-based process, a special
company. attention should be paid to frequent machine maintenance. The
4) Sludge is a type of waste that is generated from the guidelines are as follows:
accumulation of sediment in wastewater treatment ponds.
1. Educate staff on how to follow correct operating procedure and
Odours may occasionally derive from encourage skilled practices through trainings.
3. Odour manufacturing process. Most odours are emitted 2. Periodically check machine conditions and immediately fix any
by production line wastewater being transferred damage found.
to treatment ponds. Within an open system of 3. Turn waste into fertilization, feeds or other useful materials. Apart
wastewater gutters and treatment ponds, there from reducing production cost through the selling of waste materials,
is a higher chance of odour emission. Another source of odours is expenses will also drop thanks to reduced rental fee for waste storage
poor management of raw material leftovers from manufacturing space.
process, which may affect the factory’s environment and may also 4. Use closed or non-perforated recipients to contain contaminated
act as a source of germs. liquid and waste, which can later be reused or treated.

60 FOOD FOCUS THAILAND OCT 2018