Reidsville, NC , Raleigh, NC University, Box 7624, Raleigh, NC

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1 Many food processors today are literally washing their profits down the drain. The Equity Group of Reidsville was one such company...until they teamed with food scientists from the NC Agricultural Extension Service and the NC Pollution Prevention Pays Program to reduce their costly plant waste and help the City of Reidsville get publicly owned treatment works (POTW) back into compliance. Water is essential for the food industry. It may be a key ingredient as well as a means to clean the product and the plant's equipment. This clean-up with water also flushes loose flesh, blood, soluble protein, inorganic particles and other food waste to the sewer. This organic load rises in proportion to its amount and adds a high level of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD 5 ). Sewer plants add surcharges per pound of BOD 5 over set limits, which can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars for the company each year. The Equity Group Co. facility was built in 1980 and is a division of Keystone Foods. Each day, the Reidsville facility produces around 2.5 million chicken nuggets for the southeastern McDonald's stores. The plant uses almost 200,000 gallons of water per day (Table 1). The company employs 275 people in two production shifts and one cleanup shift and operates five to six days a week. When the problem of waste management was first approached, BOD 5 level was around 4,500 pounds per day. The Equity Group meat plant is required to follow very high standards. These high standards reflect on high water usage to maintain the quality demanded. Recently, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) required the production lines to be free of any meat accumulation at all times while in operation. Hosing the equipment three times per shift accomplished this requirement. Consequently, water use and the organic load increased tenfold. Equity, however, has never operated under a strict organic load reduction program. Thus, without restraints, several pounds of organic material were being flushed to the sewer and directed to the pretreatment plant. An average of 55 pounds of meat, three pounds of tempura and 15 pounds of dry batter per line per shift were being lost to the sewer. 1James B. Waynick, Director of personnel, Equity Group, P.O. Box 1436, Reidsville, NC Roy E. Carawan, Food Science Department, North Carolina State University, Box 7624, Raleigh, NC Fred R. Tarver, Jr., Food Science Department, North Carolina State University, Box 7624, Raleigh, NC

2 The city of Reidsville ran into problems with their sewage treatment plant in 1987 when it was fined by the state for polluting Little Troublesome Creek and it was pointed out that the city hadn't consistently met state discharge standards for sewage treatment plants since Equity was notified that the city's system was incapable of processing their pretreated effluent (waste). The city also set a BOD 5 limit on this effluent and levied heavy surcharges for levels over the set limit. Equity appointed an in-house task force to explore ways of reducing the plant's waste and effective management of its water use. Wastewater parameters the Equity Group concerned themselves with are BOD 5 the ph (acidity) level, TSS (total suspended solids) and FOG (fats, oils and grease). From the four categories, waste in the form of batter, tempura, breading mix, chicken shreds, juice (soluble protein), blood and fat, nugget pieces, patty pieces, and cooking fat were being flushed down the drains costing the company in raw material loss, water use, and sewage surcharges and causing a problem for the city of Reidsville since their treatment plant could not handle the amount of waste. Management forms a task farce Jim Waynick was designated to head the Equity Task Force for waste reduction. The committee contacted Dr. Roy Carawan and Dr. Fred Tarver of the Department of Food Science Extension at N.C. State University who, in turn, called in the Pollution Prevention Pays Program of the NC Department of Natural Resources and Community Development. Waynick commented, "We thought we had a problem but we didn't realize what an opportunity we had until Roy (Carawan) and Fred (Tarver) showed us!" 30.2

3 The Equity Group applied for and received a challenge Grant from the NC Pollution Prevention Pays Program for use in developing their water and waste reduction programs. These grants are awarded to businesses and communities to assist in the development of waste reduction programs. The concept of NC Pollution Prevention Pays (PPP) Program, administra tor of the grant, is to attack pollution at its source. PPP councils the prevention of pollution/ waste at the outset instead of worrying with what to do with it once it's created. Waynick, Director of personnel for the company, helped coordinate the company's efforts to reduce waste and noted that, "personnel managers really don't have a lot of training in waste control." As the work has proceeded, this lack of knowledge has actually become an asset as Waynick and the others were not aware why changes in attitude and technology would not work. Also, his management experience in the "people business" helped him understand how to affect attitudes and exact changes that employees understood and followed. The Equity Group's task force met with Pollution Prevention Pays representatives, Carawan and Tarver, and Reidsville city officials for an analytical session on the problems the company and the city faced and possible solutions. Nuggets are the primary product Nuggets are formed from the highest quality chicken breast and thigh meat. The process is shown diagramatically in Figure 1. Chicken meat is ground, blended, formed, battered, breaded, battered (Tempura), fried, frozen and then Packaged. The problem is addressed with the PPP concept steps taken to Equity's problem by the task force and specialists are listed in Table 2 and include: (1) Education on water use and waste load, (2) Study, (3) process evaluation, (4) Dry Cleanup, (5) Residual recovery and utilization and (6) Pretreatment enhancement. Education is first and foremost The most critical step was the education of the plant's managers and employees. Few realized the importance of waste and water control and the staggering numbers, in weight and dollars per day, that accompany the careless approach to waste management and use of water. 30.3

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5 A manager sets the pace Employees are sensitive to a manager's priorities. If the magement shows lack of concern and commitment to the reduction of water use and waste production, the employees will have little incentive to care as well. Top management must show a genuine caring and commitment to finding a solution to the problem. Without management's cooperation and interest, the waste, excess water and the company's profits will continue to go dawn the drain. Also, with this lack of concern, comes the potential for a poor public image for the company. The public today is highly "pollution-conscious" and if a company does not show equal consciousness, it may find itself with a bad public relations and image problem. This was one problem Equity did not have. Its managers were all concerned and ready to try any avenue offered to solve the plant's problems. When the reports of areas of waste production and heavy water use were in, Jerry Gotro, Equity's vice president, said, "this is not a slap on the hand. No one is to be ashamed of what the report states. On the other hand, everyone will need to be 150 percent dedicated and involved in the ultimate solution... (it's time to) roll up our sleeves and get it done." Then Mr. Gotro listed management considerations as employee training and awareness, the design, maintenance operation of equipment efficiently, careful production practices and dry cleanup. Survey identifies clean-up as an opportunity A waste and water survey determined where water use occurred and where wastes were generated in the process. The survey showed over half the waste load could occur during cleanup. The challenge Grant was used in part to develop a training program for the cleanup crew. Specialists from laboratories were called in to analyze the process and make recommendations. Though no final results are available yet, the Equity Group has made significant strides in reducing its waste production and water use (Table 3). 30.5

6 Dry cleanup is pursued Dry cleanup is where much of the waste was previously produced. Now, instead of using water to flush the floors and letting product material such as batter, breading, cooking oil, breading mix and chicken shreds go down the drain to the pretreatment plant to be dealt with there, collection systems for drips and disposals of batters have been installed. Most of the effluent that comes out of the plant is carbohydrate and proteinbased. With dry cleanup, a good deal of the waste is reclaimed and put to secondary use. Part of the "waste"f collected during dry cleanup is shipped to an Atlanta-based campany to use for animal food; currently, they are picking up this material at a rate of over 5,000,000 pounds per year. The rest is picked up by a renderer for their use. Other ideas considered are presented in Table 4. New employee hired to study processor and practices Some of Equity's problem identified by the task force and its specialists were insufficient equipment for waste collection, no collection equipment for waste under certain processes, leaks in machinery, worn-out equipment and 30.6

7 lines, employees 1 ignorance of the importance of water conservation and waste reduction, hosing most waste down the drain without attempting to pick it up and dispose of it in a "dry" manner, leaving equipment to be cleaned up by next shift. Remarks about the plant's problem were: "only raising employee consciousness through a well-planned training program, adequate equipment treatment and the introduction of the right in-plant utensils may reduce significantly waste BOD 5 levels." A plant survey was ordered. The spent losses and causes for organic loss to the sewer were documented. It was concluded that: (1) the equipment used to produce the nuggets rendered heavy losses in the plunger area, the batterer, tempura containers and mixers; (2) the containment trays and devices were insufficient, required maintenance and needed redesigning; (3) the employees, although conscious of the problem, were not properly trained to tackle it; (4) there exists a huge communication gap among company directors; (5) the sanitation procedures needed to be revised and; (6) an animal feed producer will buy part of the inedible. procedures given to Equity's task force by Extension and lab specialists included improvment of communication between directors and between management and employees; presentation of specific areas of plant losses (where breading is spilled, etc.); specific equipment that needed repairs or replacement specific recommendations for additional equipment such as trays under breaders to catch spillage; hiring employees specifically to supervise floor/equipment waste pickup and separation solid/liquid/breading for both the first and second shifts; training and educating all employees, but especially those in cleanup as to the seriousness of the situation and the proper procedures for efficient cleaning; production of a videotape for training purposes; emphasis of water usage to all employees and management to minimize its use; encourage any and all input on employees 1 ideas for water use and waste reduction. 30.7

8 The sanitation aspect was initially addressed. Previous to hosing, sanitation employees in both shifts are being directed to collect all possible meat residue, as well as dry batter. Nonetheless, 27 percent remains uncollected, and it is flushed during hosing. This is true for both breaks, 15-minute and lunch. Steps are being taken to correct this situation; however, further action requires USDA approval. Third shift sanitation employees use an average of 75,000 gallons of water. The water is used to both sanitize and to push scattered organic material to the sewer. Placing mats on the drains during the second to third shift transition period may be a viable solution and is being considered. Throughout this period, much organic waste is flushed to the sewer. The water/orqanic load mixture would be vacuumed with special equipment. The collected waste may be mixed with that sold to the animal feed renderer. A concept as simple as "keeping the stuff off the floors and out of the drains will save this company many thousands of dollars per year and reduce the strain on its city's sewage treatment plant. Most of the implementations to reduce water use and waste cost the company little or nothing. Carelessness, a costly trait for any business, was simply prevented by employee awareness and management emphasis on the problem. Common sense approaches to cleanup such as trays beneath machines to catch spillage, picking up spillage before hosing dawn the floors and screens over drains were used at little cost. Consciousness of the seriousness of the problems connected with reckless water use cost the company nothing but time for employees education. One of the lines has been designated as an exemplary line. Maintenance will upgrade the equipment parts, seal all leaks, tighten nuts and bolts, and the Proper containment trays will replace the existing ones. A study of the impact this may have on waste reduction will yield information applicable through the rest of the plant. Pretreatment is the last line of defense Equity had pretreatment facilities as shown in Figure 2 before the current problems surfaced. A grease trap, solids recovery basin and an activated sludge system with provisions for ph control were in place. The activated sludge system lacked sophistication and its operation had been minimal in the past. The initial results indicated that production and cleanup changes are the most effective and economical form of pretreatment. Nevertheless, as part of the total approach, engineers and Keystone Foods corporate engineers are studying enhancemen ts in the current system. A pilot dissolved air flotation system is being run with same sporatic, but promising, results. The Equity Group has shown that it is possible to obtain reductions in their BOD 5 level by over 50 percent in dry cleanup alone. Overall, the company expects up to a 75 percent reduction in their waste load. Such a reduction in waste load and water use will reduce water, sewer and surcharge costs and may eliminate the need for a costly pretreatment system. 30.8

9 The savings will be mostly due to the reduction of such major capital expenditures as the sewage surcharges, water use and pretreatmat system, as well as rec1aiming most of the residual waste and recycling it. Since the waste is not generated as pollutants to water but reclaimed, less pretreatment is necessary, reducing costs in this high-expense area as well. The future holds much promise The Equity Group Co. showed not only good social consciousness in working to reduce the waste they were sending to Reidsville's sewage treatment plant, but good business sense in reducing water costs, waste removal costs and finding creative ways to use their residual waste for their company's and society's benefit. Jim Waynick concludes, "We have just begun to fight. We must educate ourselves into a different way of thinking" which comes from his prioritized list of what has worked for him (Table 5). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors appreciate the supprt of North Carolina pollution Prevention Pays Program and their Challenge Grant Program which supported these activities. 30.9