Frigoríficos Bandeira SL., a leading Galician company in the meat sector, dedicated to the slaughter and cutting of cattle, is carrying out an ambitious plan to improve its Bandeira facilities based on sustainability and reducing the environmental footprint.
For this, and with the help of Norvento Energy and Forestry Galicia, promotes a solution that comprehensively covers the valorization of by-products from the slaughterhouse, the generation of renewable energy and the comprehensive treatment of wastewater.
The project promoted by Frigoríficos Bandeira, which will involve the investment of almost four million euros, will allow the energy recovery of its effluent and/or by-products, as well as a purification system for the treatment of the digestate from it, allowing the cycle of slaughterhouse waste management to be closed.
Decarbonization of the meat sector: exploring biogas
This facility is expected to come online in 2023 September. It is estimated that this new plant has the capacity to treat 30.000 tons per year of organic by-products generated in the production process of Frigoríficos Bandeira, including livestock manure, process water or rumen. Besides, will avoid the emission of more than 400 tons of CO2 per year.
The anaerobic digestion of this residual matrix will generate about 7.000 MWh per year of biogas, which will be used for the generation of electrical and thermal energy in the form of steam, satisfying almost all of the energy needs of the meat company's facilities. Specifically, it will cover 80% of the electrical demand and 100% of the thermal demand.
The execution project also includes the installation of a purification system, which is made up of a series of processes, both physical, chemical and biological, in which the polluting load of the digestate and other liquid effluents will be eliminated until a final discharge is achieved. sanitation network that guarantees that the levels required by municipal ordinances are met.