Success Stories
AB Mauri Yeast Australia is a food manufacturer of yeast products for industrial baking and retail products such as bread mixes for household breadmakers. Wastes from the factory include effluent, waste yeast product, filters for production machinery and baked goods from the in-house test bakery. Current management of organic waste includes the following. 2.5 tonnes of compressed yeast bricks produced each week and sent to local renewable energy generator EarthPower, which generates electricity from the methane produced from bio-digestion of food wastes. This initiative diverts 130 tonnes of waste from landfill, results in savings of $9000 per year, reduces water consumption by 57,000 litres and saves 33 tonnes of CO2 every year. 100 kg of potato starch filters produced each day are also sent to EarthPower, diverting 37 tonnes of waste from landfill, saving $2500, 16,000 litres of water and 9 tonnes of CO2 each year. The company is also considering waste exchange with farmers on the NSW South Coast – 30-40,000 litres of molasses co-product produced each week is to be used as a feed supplement, avoiding 2900 tonnes of waste going to landfill and saving $30,000, 1,300 kilolitres of water and 700 tonnes of CO2 each year. The approach to reducing impact has also been to improve separation of wastes so that more can be diverted from landfill. This is also seen as a reputation enhancing initiative, as they are aware of an increasing interest in their client base, many of whom are seeking to secure their own reputation in areas of sustainability and corporate responsibility.
Julian Fyfe
AB Mauri Yeast Australia is a food manufacturer of yeast products for industrial baking and retail products such as bread mixes for household breadmakers. Wastes from the factory include effluent, waste yeast product, filters for production machinery and baked goods from the in-house test bakery. Additional waste arises from packaging, including plastic films, metal strapping, pallets and boxes. Office paper, food and packaging waste are also generated in the course of general office activity. AB Mauri works with suppliers to reduce waste coming to the business. An example of this is contractual limits on the type of pallets on which production inputs are delivered. Few, if any, 'disposable' wooden pallets are used in deliveries to the facility. The company instead opts for durable wooden pallets which, once they have been unloaded, are sent to a neighbouring businesses for reuse as part of an ongoing resource exchange relationship. This initiative results in 11 tonnes of waste being diverted from landfill, saving $800 per year and 6 tonnes of CO2. AB Mauri has been very proactive in seeking out ways to reduce waste coming into and going out of their production. In many cases this has resulted in a position that can now only be improved by significant investments in expensive new equipment within their own facilities, or in infrastructure that will assist them to pool resources with other businesses to make better use of existing waste materials.
Julian Fyfe
AB Mauri Yeast Australia is a food manufacturer of yeast products for industrial baking and retail products such as bread mixes for household breadmakers. Wastes from the factory include effluent, waste yeast product, filters for production machinery and baked goods from the in-house test bakery. AB Mauri has been very proactive in seeking out ways to reduce waste coming into and going out of their production. The company recently identified the potential for 1000-L industrial bulk containers to be collected and reused or recycled. Recently a number of drums were given to a local business to reuse in a direct waste exchange. Reusing and recycling results in the diversion of 5 tonnes of waste to landfill each year, save the company around $500, in addition to water savings of 6,500 litres and 10.5 tonnes of CO2.
Julian Fyfe
