Caramel ingredients company Sethness-Roquette has achieved certification for the control of environmental factors, completing its portfolio of industry certifications.
The ISO 14001 certification adds to the ISO 9001 and FSSC 22000 certifications that the Franco-American joint venture gained in 2006 and 2011 respectively. It will allow the company to achieve compliance with regulations designed to prevent pollution, preserve natural resources and reduce waste.
Sethness-Roquette operations manager Fabrice Vignes said: “The production of caramel consumes energy and generates liquid and gaseous effluents and waste.
“Since its creation in 2004, our Merville factory (Nord département) has been designed to minimise its environmental impact.
“The factory was positioned alongside the Roquette Frères Group’s cornstarch and derivatives plant in Lestrem. This strategic location enables direct provisioning by pipeline of the sweetening material used in our caramels. This also eliminates the need to transport this raw material by road, the equivalent of six to seven tanker trucks per day. The steam required to cook the caramel is also transported by pipeline from the Roquette starch unit co-generation plant. This means that the steam used by Sethness-Roquette has already been used to produce electricity, thereby reducing the impact on the environment.
“The production of caramels and the different equipment washes generate liquid effluents containing COD and BOD. The factory is equipped with a very effective waste water treatment plant and its operation is regularly optimised.
“The gases generated by the cooking of the caramels contain organic acids and volatile mineral compounds. After condensation and washing, the residual gas emissions are controlled at all times by in-line analysers.
“The waste generated by our activity (treatment plant sludge, cardboard boxes, one-way packaging) are treated by recovery procedures such as methanisation, composting, recycling…”
Managing director Jean-François Mulet added: “Preparing to obtain this certification allowed us to formalise and structure our reduction in energy and utilities consumption and to optimise the treatment of our effluents and our waste recovery procedures. This is a global approach that unites all sectors of the company, including the administrative sectors with, for example, the reduction in paper consumption, or the commercial sector with travel optimisation. Finally, in-depth work was carried out to optimise the transporting of our finished products with, for example, the use of multi-modal transport.
“ISO 14001 certification, obtained in December 2015, enables Sethness-Roquette to ensure, over time and permanently, full compliance with regulations designed to prevent any pollution, preserve natural resources and reduce waste.”
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