Sustainability Report 2010 - Finlays

Business Unit performance
4.2 Leaf Tea Trading and Extracts
Caffeine purification project
Effluent and waste streams have become key focus areas for Finlays.
The effective management of
effluent streams often offers financial
benefits. Finlays invests in identifying
opportunities where improvements can
be made through financial incentives.
For Finlays Leaf Tea Trading and
Extracts, the effluent stream of our
decaffeination plant has been identified
as one such opportunity.
During 2010 we have successfully
developed a method to remove caffeine
from our effluent stream. Further work
has purified the extracted caffeine into
a natural food-grade source of caffeine.
The process enables us to reduce
trade effluent costs, produce cleaner
municipal waste water and, at the
same time, develop a commercially
viable product.
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We expect the purified caffeine to be
of great interest to food manufacturers.
The success of this project
demonstrates that a reduction in
trade effluent and cleaner waste water
can be achieved through a combination
of market demand (natural caffeine)
and an investment in in-house process
development. This means we are
utilising the raw material going into
the plant to its full potential whilst
making improvements in our
effluent management.
The effective management of effluent
streams often offers financial benefits.
Finlays invest in identifying opportunities
where improvements can be made
through financial incentives.
Finlays Sustainability Report 2010