Food Processing - January 2008 - (Page 33)

Nearly twice as many 2007 respondents as those for 2006 (16 vs. 9 percent) also claim to be “severely impacted” by energy costs. Those “moderately” impacted accounted for three-fourths, just as in last year’s survey. Costs increased “much more than expected” for 13 percent in 2007, a 25 percent increase over 2006’s 10 percent. Energy management steps processors are taking haven’t changed and include: • Conservation (two-thirds) • Audits (one-third) • Recycling (three in 10) • Renegotiation (one-fourth) • Alternate sources (one-ﬁfth) • Consultants (one in nine) • Co-generation (one-tenth). Those not looking at any form of energy management dipped from almost 10 percent last year to under 9 percent now. For this year’s survey, we asked about alternate energy sources, such as solar, wind and biodiesel. We discovered almost 20 percent are considering such power sources. Other plans to be implemented include: heating with hot waste water or steam; methane capture; and converting waste into biogas for fuel. One of the best ways to reduce energy and save money is by implementing many small, easy changes. “Our big push to save energy has included upgrading lighting to ﬂuorescent, and to T8 electronic ballast ﬂuorescent tubes from T12,” says Matt Merkle, technical manager for Kellogg Co.’s (www.kelloggs.com) Memphis, Tenn., plant. “We also installed sensored lights in low-trafﬁc areas. “Other efforts include more efﬁciency on the ammonia compressors in our refrigeration units, changing our defrost process to conserve energy, updated steam traps and enhanced leak detection and maintenance,” Merkle adds. “To conserve water, we’ve shifted to low-ﬂow plumbing systems.” What goes around The rise in energy worries was a wake-up call that what goes out the pipe goes out the pocket. Overall, environmental issues rank as “extremely” or “very” important among 71 percent (last year 67 percent). And 56 percent of processors surveyed say they’re recycling more than they did last year. In fact, 90 percent are engaged in some form of recycling/re-use program. Fewer than 3 percent are not recycling and have no plans to. Barriers to recycling included: Too many items not accepted, not enough storage for recyclables and cost outweighing beneﬁts. Some processors also Baton Rouge MSA The Center for Life Science 1 19 10 105 1 67 10 19 16 1 22 1 80 annual graduates 1 of only 10 that are accredited in the nation Bruce Foods,Tabasco, etc. MORE ON THE WEB We could ﬁt into print only a fraction of the 46 charts and graphs that resulted from our annual Manufacturing Trends Survey. A reprint of this story, with all the survey data collected, is available at www.FoodProcessing. com/gt/knowledge WWW.FOODPROCESSING.COM Work together on R&D; over 200 students in molecular sciences and nanotechnology at LA Tech Open to GMO’s Contact: Chad Cornett | chad@brac.org | 225.381.7136 JANUARY 2008 FOOD PROCESSING • 33 http://www.kelloggs.com http://www.foodprocessing.com/gt/knowledge http://www.foodprocessing.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Food Processing - January 2008

Food Processing - January 2008 Contents Editor's Plate NewsBites The Trends Rollout Food Biz Kids Product Spotlight Seventh Annual Manufacturing Trends Surbey Product Development Ingredients Plant Operations Plant Operations & Packaging New Supplier Products Toops Scoops

Food Processing - January 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.