State-of-the-art technology will recover energy from wastewater towards more sustainable production

BENEO, a leading manufacturer of functional ingredients for food, feed and pharma, is continuing its commitment towards more sustainable production processes by installing new equipment at its rice ingredients plant in Wijgmaal, Belgium. Thanks to a large-scale industrial heat pump supplied by Heaten, a specialist in industrial heat pump solutions, the company will be able to recover energy from wastewater to reduce its CO₂ emissions. 

The rice ingredients produced at BENEO’s Wijgmaal site are used by food manufacturers worldwide to make pudding creamier, improve the dough consistency of a pizza crust, or refine the viscosity of soups in a more convenient way. Manufacturing specialty rice ingredients involves both a wet extraction operation and a drying process, which requires very high temperatures. 

Currently, the energy for the drying process is derived from natural gas. By investing in an industrial heat pump that recovers energy from wastewater that would have been usually lost, BENEO continues to improve its sustainable energy management. Thanks to state-of-the-art technology used by the heat pump, the energy from the wastewater is increased to a level that is high enough to contribute to the drying process of rice starch or rice protein. In this way, the new installation will help to significantly reduce the company’s natural gas consumption and, therefore CO₂ emissions. BENEO has been collaborating with the company Heaten as an experienced partner in industrial heat pumps to improve the sustainability of its overall production process.

“Installing the heat pump represents an important sustainability milestone for us at BENEO as it will help us to reduce CO₂ emissions which is key to mitigating our overall impact on the planet. We’ve spent several months installing heat exchangers and additional piping at our Wijgmaal factory, with the heat pump expected to be operational in June 2024,” explained Roland Vanhoegaerden, Operations Managing Director, Specialty Rice Ingredients at BENEO.

The heat pump is the latest in a series of ambitious examples of more sustainable energy management at BENEO. Energy consumption inside the plant has already been made as efficient as possible through the installation of frequency converters, and BENEO buys 100 percent green electricity from its supplier. The company has also significantly reduced carbon emissions generated from transport after halving its inland European freight movement from road to river.

“The heat pump is our next but not our final step. It is the continuation of an integrated approach across our value chain that BENEO will undertake for the years to come,” concluded Vanhoegaerden.

About BENEO in Wijgmaal

BENEO’s production site in Wijgmaal (Belgium), founded in 1856 by Edouard Remy, has grown over the years to become the global market leader in the production and sale of rice starch. The factory is the source for more than half of the world’s rice starch. Next to rice starch, rice flour and rice protein is being produced at the site for the food and feed market. BENEO’s unique rice derivatives are used in the production of numerous products, optimising texture and nutritional composition.

About BENEO

BENEO has long-term experience in developing and producing plant-based functional ingredients from natural sources for the food, feed, and pharmaceutical industries. By supporting health and optimising taste and texture, they help improve the nutritional and technical properties of a wide variety of products.

Through a unique chain of expertise, BENEO offers customers advice and inspiration on new product ideas that support a healthy lifestyle in a holistic way. This includes the BENEO-Institute that provides decisive insights into nutrition science and legislation, and the BENEO-Technology Center that consults in application technology.

Formed in 2007, BENEO is active in over 80 countries, employs more than 1000 people and has six state-of-the-art production sites in Belgium, Chile, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands that deliver high-quality ingredients at all times.

For further information on BENEO and its ingredients, please visit www.beneo.com and www.beneo.com/news or follow BENEO on X (formerly Twitter): @_BENEO or LinkedIn:www.linkedin.com/company/beneo