Green Economy Journal Issue 61

RESOURCE EFFICIENCY
Invest in
Industrial Efficiency
• Long term sustainability through resource savings
Assisting South African
• Economic growth
• Environmental compliance
• Contributes to social development
National Cleaner
Production Centre
South Africa
CHEESE AND DAIRY PLANTS
transition to better water and energy efficiency practices
THA 23-2023
Services include:
Green skills development
Industry and sector knowledge sharing
Company technical support
A national industrial
support programme that
partners with industry to
drive the transition towards
a green economy and
save money.
Contact us for a free assessment
www.ncpc.co.za
ncpc@csir.co.za
Funded by the dtic, hosted by the CSIR
The recently released report, Resource Efficiency for the
Cheese and Yoghurt Dairy Sector in South Africa, provides
insights and recommendations for companies engaged in
agricultural processing transition to better water and energy
efficiency practices.
The South African cheese and yoghurt dairy sector is a major water
user, utilising an estimated 8.7-million kilolitres of water each year.
The report identifies several energy and water opportunities for
cheese and dairy plants and outlines practical measures to improve
resource efficiency.
The report was developed as part of a resource efficiency
benchmarking study for the South African cheese and yoghurt
dairy sector that was conducted by the International Federation
Corporation (IFC), in partnership with the National Cleaner Production
Centre South Africa (NCPC-SA) and the Swiss State Secretariat for
Economic Affairs (SECO).
“The South African dairy sector has an opportunity through the
adoption of both efficiency and sustainable technologies to significantly
reduce its environmental impact, specifically pertaining to resource
utilisation and carbon footprint,” explains Lindani Ncwane, NCPC-SA
senior project manager.
The study benchmarked the water and energy usage of six dairies
across the country against local and international best practices. Two
large dairies were from the Eastern Cape and have a variety of products
including cheese, an additional two medium-sized cheese factories
were also from the same region. The final two, one medium-sized
with a variety of products including yoghurt and milk, and the other,
a small cheese factory, were from the Western Cape.
The report provides the cheese and yoghurt dairy industry with
practical examples that can be implemented to address water losses,
educate employees on water management, and ultimately, save
plants money.
“A dairy plant could reduce its water consumption by over 40% by
implementing a number of water efficiencies measures and a further
20% by implementing recycling and re-use measures,” reiterates
Ncwane. The potential savings if South African cheese and yoghurt
dairy plants would implement resource efficiency practices across
the board amount to:
• Water consumption could be reduced by up to 69%, resulting in
savings of six-million kilolitres nationally per annum with savings
of around R138-million and R200-million annually.
• Electrical energy consumption could be reduced by 25% to 50%,
resulting in savings of 200 000MWh to 400 000MWh per annum with
a cost saving of around R250-million to R500-million per annum.
• Fuel consumption could be reduced by up to 30% and a 50% reduction
in GHG emissions of fossil fuels (assuming a 50% uptake in a switch
in fuels) which would result in a R180-million saving per annum.
Ncwane encourages the South African cheese and yoghurt dairy
industry to download copies of the report so, “They will learn and be
able to identify opportunity areas for savings within their factories.”
Report copies can be downloaded from the NCPC-SA website
(www.ncpc.co.za).
The NCPC-SA is a national industry support programme managed
by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on behalf of
the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic). The
NCPC-SA’s mandate is to support the transition of South African industrial
and selected commercial sectors to a low-carbon, green economy.
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