Sustainability Victoria grant awarded

Warrnambool Cheese and Butter has received a $990,000 grant from the Sustainability Fund, a Victorian government initiative managed by Sustainability Victoria, for its salt and water reduction and re-use strategy.

The grant will be used to investigate technologies to reduce factory water consumption and increase salt and water re-use. This dairy waste research project will run from mid-2007 to late 2009.

With the grant funding, the company will work in collaboration with the Victorian Department of Primary Industries to develop and test a range of technologies and processes.

The research aims to reduce water consumption and sodium and water discharges from the Allansford factory, and improve water quality for either re-use by the factory, use as a water source for local farmer suppliers or to facilitate re-use of municipal wastewater in Warrnambool.

Once testing is complete, the fund will also be applied to the installation of technology to reduce the amount of water and salt in the factory's wastewater.

WCB already has a number of groundbreaking, innovative initiatives underway. Current research will help optimise the performance of the on-site anaerobic digester, which is used to treat waste streams and create bio-gas used to generate energy for the factory. This research has already reduced the use of natural gas by approximately 10%.

For more information, visit www.dse.vic.gov.au.