dws-biothane-mars-memthane-veghel-770pxDuring an on-site ceremony, food manufacturer Mars officially commissioned an anaerobic Memthane wastewater treatment plant at its chocolate factory in Veghel, the Netherlands on 27 October.

City councilor Annemieke van de Ven (in front) of Veghel and supply vice president Nici Bush of Mars Inc. revealed a large poster with a slogan on sustainable production of chocolate.

Memthane is an anaerobic membrane bio-reactor that combines two proven technologies: Veoilia Biothane’s anaerobic biological wastewater treatment and Pentair’s X-Flow ultrafiltration membrane separation process.

Both water technologies have been developed in the Netherlands.

dws-biothane-mars-x-flow-uf-membranes-350px Hein Mous shows the vertically placed energy efficient Pentair X-Flow UF-membranes.

Third generation anaerobic technology
Dennis Korthout, Business Development Manager Veolia division Biothane: "We are proud of to have realized this project. It reflects Veolia's vision; developing on a global scale, realization and operation of best suitable solutions for our customers with a strong local commitment."

Hein Mous SES manager Mars Netherlands: "We have great confidence in this third generation anaerobic wastewater treatment technology and are proud to be the first to be able to present this within Mars. A second Memthane plant will be realized later this year at our factory in Poland."

One step treatment
The Mars factory in Veghel is the world's largest chocolate factory, producing Mars, Snickers, Milky Way, Bounty and Twix chocolate bars for the European market.

The new treatment plant purifies the wastewater to 99%, reducing the chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentration from 10,000 to 50 mg/l in one single step, without pretreatment.

Neither required is a additional polishing step as the chocolate facility discharges its effluent not on surface water but on the sewage system of a nearby municipal wwtp.

The anaerobic Memthane plant produces 1 million cubic meter biogas that is used for the boiler house. The biogas production from the wastewater covers 10% of the overall energy use at the Mars facility.

dws-biothane-mars-slogan-sustainable-production-350pxThe revealed slogan says:" Here Mars purifies water. This way we work on a fully sustainable chocolate production". 

First Memthane on European continent
Veolia Biothane has already built eight Memthane systems worldwide, but this is the first one realized on the European continent.

The anaerobic MBR technology is applied for high-strength industrial waste streams from dairy industries (whey), distilleries and biofuel production (stillage), and for COD concentrations up to 120,000 mg/l.

The Memthane systems are equipped with cross-flow units from X-Flow (Pentair), which enable easy membrane maintenance. The clear and suspended free effluent, facilitates easy nutrient recovery and water-reuse.

Fully sustainable by 2040
The new wastewater plant was realized in cooperation with Veolia Water Technologies and contributes to Mars' strategy to sustainable production by 2040 as set out in its Sustainable in a Generation (SIG) program.

As part of its campaign to reduce the use of fossil fuels and mitigate its impact on the environment, Mars chose to implement an outstanding wastewater treatment and recovery facility at the Veghel plant.

More information
Veolia Biothane
Delft, the Netherlands
+31 15 270 01 11
www.biothane.com

Pentair Water Process Technology
Enschede, the Netherlands
+31 58 428 73 10
www.pentair.com