Water & Wastewater Asia November/December 2020

54 ON OUR RADAR
Australasian deciduous crops such as apples and pears have a clean, green reputation internationally, which extends from growing through to production,
and KDS sludge dewatering technology is being used internationally to handle food and beverage waste in an environmentally sensitive manner
Sustainable food producer introduces NZ’s first KDS
sludge dewatering technology to cost-efficiently reduce
waste and environmental footprint
A
New Zealand food processing
company committed to
environmental excellence has
become the country’s first adopter of a
sludge dewatering technology engineered
to cost-efficiently reduce the sustainability
footprint of food, beverage, and wastewater
treatment.
The fruit producer is installing a compact
and cost-efficient KDS multidisc Roller
system from CST Wastewater Solutions
to dewater wet sloppy screened waste
from the peeling process. This transforms
fruit waste from a wet and sticky heavy
mass to a much drier product that is less
messy, easier to handle, and transport for
stockfeed or landfill.
of $150 a ton to dispose of, including the
specialised transport from the places where
trade wastes are generated to centres where
compacting, drying, recycling and disposal
can take place in controlled environments,”
said CST Wastewater Solutions Managing
Director Mr Michael Bambridge.
The NZ producer – which cannot be named
because of contractual confidentiality
provisions – is adopting its KDS technology
to handle a highly variable quality and
volume of up to 5m 3 /h.
“This first NZ adopter of the KDS technology
had previously tried alternative technologies,
but none handled the variable volume
involved or dewatered the fruit waste enough
to prevent excess water and product from
creating an unhygienic site and causing
leakage,” said Mr Bambridge.
The NZ producer selected a model SS611
KDS with a longer press zone to achieve
optimum dewatering of the sloppy and
wet mix of peelings, leaves and pulpy
fruit material.
The technology will reduce volume by up
to 90%, thus reducing transport costs and
preventing any potential spillages during
transport. There are also operational and
OH&S benefits with the site being cleaner
and easier to maintain, and the financial
gain of not paying for transport and
disposal of unnecessary water.
“Heavy cakes of byproduct from growers
and food processors can cost upwards
KDS technology with its multi-roller system (above) eliminates sticky, sloppy sludge and spillages by
producing a drier, much lighter and hygienic waste that is more easily transported and recycled) (See
animation of the rollers here. See a video of the KDS used in fruit processing here.)
November / December 2020 • waterwastewaterasia.com