|
Supermom's Saves $235,000 Yearly
by Reducing Waste
Food
Processor Cut Energy Use, COD and Labor Costs
| Company |
Supermom's
Bakery
St. Paul Park, MN |
| Industry |
Bakery and
deli food processing |
| Goal |
Improve efficiency,
promote waste reduction facility wide and
reduce the amount of solids and sugar glaze
in its wastewater. |
| Change |
Purchased more-efficient
equipment and modified existing equipment.
Introduced steps to prevent solids from entering
wastewater. |
| Benefits |
Supermom's
saved at least $235,000 a year through its
waste reduction efforts. It substantially
reduced solid waste, introduced energy and
labor efficient technologies and reduced water
treatment costs. |
|
Supermom’s Bakery, St. Paul Park,
employed 175 people in its bakery and 75 in its sandwich
deli area. Supermom's made 100,000 donuts a day which
were sold through Super America gas station stores.
Since 1990, Supermom’s steadily implemented waste
reduction measures. It reduced annual wastewater treatment
charges from $30,000 to around $5,000. Implementing
waste reduction measures over time made them feasible
and manageable while providing long-term payoffs. Supermom’s
tackled one issue at a time, continually tightening
its system.
Most savings occurred where new technology
could prevent wasted ingredients and reduce labor costs.
Faced with rising water treatment charges, Supermom’s
also found ways to lower the chemical oxygen demand
(COD) of its wastewater. Supermom’s actively involved
employees in the waste reduction process, encouraging
their feedback and support.
Efficient Ovens
Three new rack ovens, which operated at 95 percent efficiency,
were installed to work in tandem with older, less efficient
traveling-tray ovens. The ovens cost $30,000 dollars
a piece with a $1,500 environmental improvement rebate
on each from the utility company. The ovens paied for
themselves in six months. The new ovens used 20 percent
less energy than the old ones, were much less labor
intensive to operate, baked in eight minutes instead
of 12, and had a baking temperature of 350° F instead
of 400° F. Compared to the old ovens, the new ovens
cost $14,000 less a month to operate, saving Supermom’s
$168,000 a year.
Water
Focusing on the most important processes in the facility,
Supermom’s identified its major waste sources and
found options to reduce the waste.
Conveyor and
Deep Fryer System
One of the most effective changes that Supermom’s
made was to cement over the floor drain that ran the
length of the donut deep fryer and conveyor system.
Previously, sugar glaze residue could fall off the conveyor
and wash down the drain during cleaning.
Rotating brushes were installed under
the conveyor system to sweep sugar glaze off the conveyor
belt and into hanging catch pans. Sheets of vinyl were
hung under the conveyors to catch fallen icing. The
conveyor belt, where glazing was applied, cycled through
a wash bin to remove excess glaze. Automatic brushes
alongside the conveyor wiped additional sugar residue
off the belt and into the wash bin.
Instead of discharging vegetable shortening
and oil waste from the deep fryer into the drain, a
refurbished dairy storage tank was used to collect the
used shortening at the end of the day. During the day,
shortening was filtered to maintain quality and recirculated.
Tray Washer
Previously sprinkles, batter and donut particles would
go into the machine that washed donut trays and go down
the drain. To reduce the amount of solids going down
the drain Supermom's added a large metal lip so that
employees could dump the trays out before loading them
into the washer. And the water inside of the washer
was recirculated to cut water use. A separate freshwater
cycle performed the final rinse. At the end of the day
when the water was discharged, fabric filters caught
any remaining solid particles.
Icing Vats
Supermom's used 65 to 100 buckets to mix icing every
day. During cleaning four to five ounces of residual
icing from each bucket would wash down the drain. Moving
to bulk preparation and storage for icing eliminated
the need to wash the buckets. Icing was stored in three
large stainless steel mixing vats: one each for chocolate,
caramel and vanilla flavors. Together the vats cost
$45,000. Two large vats held 1,200 pounds each of icing,
and a smaller one held 750 pounds.
Eliminating this waste saved Supermom’s
$2,000 a year. Eliminating the three hours a night spent
washing buckets saved Supermom’s around $40,000
yearly and reduced its overall water consumption.
With the addition of the large vats,
icing was only mixed once in the morning, as opposed
to multiple daily mixings on an as-needed basis. The
temperature controlled vats yielded consistently higher
quality icing than did individual bucket mixing. The
vats had a payback of about one year.
Food By-products
All of the sugar, shortening, icing and glaze waste
and reject donuts that were collected were sent to a
livestock feed company for reuse as animal feed. The
MnTAP fact sheet Livestock
Producers Accepting food By-products [#25] lists
livestock producers that have the proper permits to
feed food by-products to livestock.
Results
Supermom’s efforts to reduce waste saved the company
$235,000 per year. Some of the new equipment was expensive
but could be justified by short payback times followed
by substantial savings. In addition, Supermom’s
concern for environmentally sound practices enhanced
its image as a responsible corporate citizen. By keeping
operating costs down and investing in efficient equipment,
Supermom’s secured a competitive future for itself.
For More Information
MnTAP has a variety of technical assistance services available to help Minnesota businesses implement industry-tailored solutions that maximize resource efficiency, prevent pollution, increase energy efficiency, and reduce costs.Our information resources
are available online. Or, call MnTAP at 612.624.1300
or 800.247.0015 from greater Minnesota
for personal assistance.
|
