The company Quescrem has been the winner in the category of Best Business Project in the Galicia Alimentación 2022 Awards, awarded by the Galician Food Cluster, for the development of the first plant in Spain that transforms permeate, a dairy co-product that is generated during the process cheese making, in biogas. This is the first plant of its kind to begin operating in Spain to take advantage of dairy waste in energy generation.
This award recognizes its initiative in favor of the circular economy, for the use of all the liquid by-products that are generated in its facilities and the use of the permeate to produce biogas and, therefore, “generate clean energy”, with fewer “emissions”. of polluting gases”.
A PROBLEM, AN OPPORTUNITY
Lactose and the rest of the permeate components become contaminants when the liquid is thrown into the environment without any type of treatment, so Quescrem He explored several alternatives to give it value and reuse it. Finally, he opted for its use to produce biogas “through processing in an anaerobic digester.”
The biogas plant allows Quescrem to carry out its principle of respect for the environment and the natural resources that surround it, in addition to obtaining considerable energy savings, less dependence on fossil fuels, a reduction in polluting gas emissions and creating wealth with the generation of reusable materials such as fertilizer sludge.
