LIFE for Acid Whey
With the increasing production of milk and traditional dairy products, competition in the dairy market is also increasing. Therefore, to enhance the competitiveness of dairies, continuous investments in modernization of production are necessary, with the aim of offering new products and optimising costs in the area of wastewater treatment and energy consumption.
Whey offers great potential in this field as it represents a significant source of highly searched proteins in the market of dietary supplements, a substrate for the cultivation of dairy starter cultures, a potential source of renewable energy, etc.
In addition to total dry whey proteins used as food supplements increasing protein nutrition value, the importance of individual whey proteins has recently been highlighted. These include β-lactoglobulin, α-lactalbumin, immunoglobulins, bovine serum albumin, glycomacropeptide, lactoperoxidase, and lactoferrin. The importance of the latter is much greater, due to their regulatory and physiological activity in the body.
In the light of the current EU goals for establishing a circular economy and clean technologies, we will demonstrate in the project LIFE for Acid Whey several innovative approaches for further whey processing. The primary focus will be on optimising and demonstrating the separation process of individual whey proteins (e.g., lactoferrin, lactoperoxidase, immunoglobulin) using monolithic chromatography. In pilot experiments and cooperation with external partners, we will test other possibilities of beneficial use of acid whey, such as the production of dairy starter cultures, the production of vitamins, the separation of residual lactose, lactate and whey proteins, and the production of energy.
After the end of the four-year LIFE for Acid Whey project, we expect the following results:
The LIFE for Acid Whey project will include the following activities:
1. Preparatory activities
2. Activities on a test pilot system for the separation of individual whey proteins
3. Design and construction of a demonstration plant
4. Logistics of whey management
5. Operation and monitoring of the demonstration plant
6. Whey management after protein separation
7. Pre-commercialization activities
8. Monitoring and measurement of project performance indicators and life cycle analysis
9. Dissemination of the project
Networking
Review of LIFE projects on new ways of whey treatment and processing, recovery of bio-based substances from the side-streams of the dairy
industry and other sectors of the food processing industry and their upgradation into products with higher added value:
Reduction of CO2 emissions by the PHB use obtained from whey: demonstration in dairy products packaging.
(production of biodegradable food packaging
material polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) by microbial fermentation of cheese whey)
LIFE 13 ENV/ES/000608
Full use of the whey produced by the dairy industry.
(formulation of an Action Plan and demonstration of an innovative methodology for the recovery of whey and its transformation into new food products, animal feed and biogas)
LIFE11 ENV/ES/000639
Protein recovery and recycling from animal-byproducts processes.
(recovery of valuable protein fractions, like
gelatine and/or collagen from waste produced during the rendering process by application of novel technologies like isoelectric precipitation,
microfiltration and electrocoagulation)
LIFE16 ENV/ES/000467
No water! - A dairy industry which is self-supporting in water.
The objective of the project was to achieve
water self-sufficiency and decrease the amount
of wastewater by 50%.
LIFE03 ENV/NL/000488
Review of LIFE projects on development and performanceof Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) to reduce environmental footprint and implement the principles of the circular economy in the dairy industry:
Improving the supply chain efficiency of Eropean hard and semi-hard PDO cheeses and reduce its product environmental footprint by designing Environmental decision support system. LIFE16 ENV/IT/000225
Promoting the implementation of product environmental footprint methodology in the European dairy sector
LIFE 16 ENV/ES/000173
Demonstrative model of circular economy process in a high-quality dairy industry.
LIFE15 ENV/IT/000585
Review of EU FP7 and H2020 projects in the field of new methods of whey processing , separation of individual components from the side flows
of the dairy industry and other sectors of the food processing industry and their upgrading into products with higher added value
Electrochemical water treatment system in the
dairy industry with hydrogen recovery and electricity production.
FP7 Project
Valorising waste whey into high-value products
(utulisation of whey for microbial fermentation to produce vitamin B12)
EC H2020 SMEINST project
Enhanced protein fractionation from protein sources for their use in special food applications
EC FP7 project
Whey protein-coated plastic films to replace expensive polymers and increase recyclability
EC FP7 Project
Ena od aktivnosti, ki ji bomo posvečali pozornost v okviru projekta LIFE for Acid Whey, je tudi mreženje s potekajočimi in zaključenimi LIFE projekti. V nadaljevanju predstavljamo ključne informacije projektov LIFE, kot tudi drugih projektov sofinanciranih iz evropskih sredstev, ki se tematsko navezujejo z našim razvojnim področjem in tehnologijo.
Nadejamo se izmenjav informacij kot tudi novih raziskovalnih in razvojnih pobud, ki lahko nastanejo s povezovanjem. K sodelovanju in skupni predstavitvi vabimo tudi druge organizacije in njihove projekte.