Hard-to-handle fruit, veg & poultry waste proves easy pickings for Seepex BTM pumps

27 October, 2021

Waste is an unavoidable part of the production process at fruit, vegetable and poultry processing facilities. Whether in the form of trimmings, wash residue and by-products, or as a result of offspecification batches, overproduction or expired goods, it must be handled within strict sanitary guidelines and quickly removed from production areas. Not only does this free capacity so that primary processing operations can continue, but waste and by-products can also create an additional revenue stream as animal feed or compost, or to generate renewable energy. This makes their efficient removal and swift onward transfer even more important to manufacturers’ bottom lines.

However, some waste products are notoriously difficult to handle. Large, highly viscous or non-flowable foodstuffs can prove particularly challenging: for example, whole chickens; chicken frames, heads, feet and necks; whole cabbages or potatoes; and fruit stones, seeds and peels from vegetables and fruit. As a result, some operators still rely on traditional methods to remove them from the production area. It is not uncommon to find conveyor belts, compressed air systems, vacuums, water flumes, and manual handling via waste containers such as tote bins being used even at large food production factories. These methods can be inefficient, unsanitary and expensive.

Automated, all-in-one alternative

Fortunately, there are sophisticated, hygienic and cost-effective alternatives on the market. Seepex BTM pump range is one such option. The patented chopping and pumping solution, featuring an enclosed pipework system, is already being used in waste handling applications at many fruit, vegetable and poultry processing factories throughout the UK and Europe. Thanks to an integrated cutting unit that reduces particle size, the BTM effectively chops and pumps in a single operation, reducing the solids volume by up to 60%. This creates a pumpable consistency, without requiring the addition of water, enabling whole vegetables and even entire birds such as DOA or off-specification chickens to be hygienically and efficiently removed offsite.

Hygienic waste removal

The benefits to food manufacturers of switching from conventional waste removal methods to an enclosed, automated solution like the BTM are three-fold. Firstly, it is more hygienic. Transferring waste products through a closed pipe system eliminates, for example, the need for dedicated cleaning of tote bins prior to re-entering high-care areas which prevents potential cross contamination.

Improved health & safety

Secondly, it is safer. Manual handling or conveying systems often result in waste product falling or being dropped onto the floor, presenting an immediate health and safety risk to operatives, who are in danger of slipping on it. Furthermore, this fully automated solution requires only one staff member to load product into the hopper. This leads to improved health and safety on the factory floor due to a reduction in traffic and hazards in highrisk areas – fewer forklift trucks, fewer operatives and fewer tote bins.

Cost-saving solution

Finally, the BTM pump range is more efficient, generating significant cost savings. By chopping, pumping and transferring all-in-one as the BTM is able to create a pumpable consistency without requiring any additional water, resulting in savings from water usage. This has the additional benefit of reducing the volume of waste by up to 60%, making it easier to transport and thereby cutting transport costs. The operating and energy costs of the BTM are considerably lower than vacuum or compressed air systems, generating savings there. And by removing a manual element from the process and automating it, food producers are saving on labour costs, too, freeing employees for more lucrative, primary production roles.

Where high care production areas are chilled, removing waste via a simple pipeline rather than manually through doorways, will also assist in reducing energy costs as well as minimising potential contamination from external sources.

Bespoke options for most challenging waste streams

Where more challenging by-products need to be transported, customised solutions are available. ‘Bridging’ can be an issue with certain wastes, so the BTM pump range includes augers with a large pitch that enables the product to be conveyed into the cutting elements to ensure continuous pumping. Horizontal and vertical grinders can also be integrated, as can stone and knife traps to prevent pump damage, while dewatering devices can help to reduce waste volume even further. Finally, all BTM pump systems can be fitted with Smart Conveying Technology (SCT); an innovation from Seepex that enables rapid dismantling and cleaning, increasing pump stator life by up to 200% and reducing maintenance time by up to 85%. Pumps fitted with SCT are also suitable for Clean-Out-of-Place (COP) or CIP.

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Case studies

Potato processor

A major vegetable processing company supplying several large retailers approached Seepex for a solution to improve the efficiency of potato waste handling at its UK plant. The waste peelings and reject potatoes were being manually collected and transported by conveyor to a waste holding area. The company needed a safer, more efficient and more hygienic way to transfer the waste, so commissioned Seepex to install a BTM open hopper PC pump, sized to match the maximum daily waste volume.

Within the pump hopper is an auger feed screw, which conveys both viscous and non-flowable waste through the built-in cutters and into the pumping elements of the rotor and stator. The cutting elements comprise rotating and stationary knives on the auger and pump casing, which chop the potato waste to enable to be pumped to the final disposal area. An extended hopper enables the waste to be directly fed from a tote bin-tipper. This reduces handling and the amount of waste spillage onto the floor, improving health and safety. As the site project engineer comments: “Now we hardly have to handle the waste at all – and we’ve got a closed pipeline system instead of our open conveyors.”

Global food processor

An automated waste handling solution from Seepex has enabled a leading manufacturer and processor of fresh convenience food to hygienically, safely and cost-effectively dispose of its waste. Over a number of years, Seepex has supplied the processor with a series of open hopper PC pumps with auger feed screws from its T range, as well as BTM pumps with integrated cutting knives, bridge breakers and extended hoppers, to chop and pump all the waste produced from fruits without stones. To handle mango stones, grape vines and other tough waste, it developed a sophisticated system incorporating an auger feed screw, a vertical cutting device and an open hopper pump.

When building a new manufacturing unit, to handle coleslaw and potato salad, the company approached Seepex again, this time to engineer a bespoke automated waste handling system capable of processing both organic and non-organic waste streams. “The solution has delivered on its promises to reduce costs, reduce labour, keep our manufacturing area clean, tidy and compliant, and keep our operatives safe,” said their Engineering Manager.

Poultry processor

In a bid to reduce its reliance on manual handling using tote bins, one of the UK’s largest chicken processors sought an alternative solution for the handling and disposal of whole DOA birds, intestines, claws and feathers. It commissioned Seepex to install pumps from its BTM range, comprising a feed screw and compression zone fitted with rotating and stationary knives to macerate the birds, offal and other waste prior to pumping. The result has been significant cost savings in the form of energy efficiency and reduced volume for disposal, as well as an improvement in operators’ working conditions due to the removal of manual handling.