Inner Mongolia Mengniu Group has set up green industry chain, from farm to consumer. In 2011, Mengniu joined WWF China's "Carbon Reduction Pioneer" programme and committed to 5 year carbon reduction goals. It invested 6 mio RMB to establish first eco-grassland fund in China, supporting sustainable and ecological deployment of grassland. Its "green cash model" covers methane power generation, waste water and package recycling.

Mengniu is building a methane power generation plant, the Mengniu Aoya Modern Farm. Per day, this will be able to generate 11K cubic meters of methane, generating 30,000 kWh of electricity and 35 tonnes of organic fertiliser.

Mengniu has also invested 400 mio RMB into processing waste water, 15 mio tonnes reached 1st level standards of waste water discharge, and is reused. In terms of packaging, Mengniu committed to use carton material from sustainable certified forests, which meets low carbon and green standards.

The Mengniu sustainability programme has won the 2011 IDF Dairy Innovation Award for the Best environmental sustainability initiative.

Installation of sludge storage lagoon

• 2003: Biogas re-use system decommissioned due to installation/design deficiencies. No biogas being utilized
• 2004: 62 ML/y sludge applied to farm land as fertilizer
• 2005: 52 ML/y sludge applied to farm land as fertilizer
• 2006: Biogas re-use system to 5MW hot water heater modified and re-commissioned. Installation of new 2MW biogas/natural gas hot water heater at treatment plant. 44 ML/y sludge applied to farm land as fertilizer.
• 2007: Design and build pilot-scale anaerobic plant for R&D work. 30 ML/y sludge applied to farm land as fertilizer. Treatment plant operating at 3.6 ML/d peak capacity; 1,600 tonnes of CO2e abated through biogas utilisation.
• 2008: Construction of a manufacturing plant, to produce the pre-biotic Vivinal GOS (Galacto-oligosaccharide) that utilises up to 1.1 ML/d whey permeate previously disposed through the waste stream; 256 ML/y sludge applied to farm land as fertilizer. 21% of biogas utilized -1800 tonnes CO2e abated.
• 2009: GOS plant commissioned. 33 ML/y sludge applied to farm land as fertilizer.
• 2010: 9 ML/y sludge applied to farm land as fertilizer. Treatment plant operating at 4.0 ML/d peak capacity; 34% of biogas utilised – 1600 tonnes CO2e abated.

Context

• The water content of permeate derived from concentration or fragmentation of milk or its by-products can be utilised:

Action

• reuse of calories thanks to heat recovery equipment,
• reuse of water from permeate (according to legislation) for the cleaning of soils, vehicle and supply of boilers.

Impact

• Reduction in drinking water use where it is not necessary to use drinking water, and decrease of water use of plants up to 50%

“I believe in ‘earth-neutral’ farming” - Dennis Haubenschild

Practicing:

• Variable speed pumps
• Methane digester technology : Producing enough electricity for dairy and 70 area homes
• Water recycling
• Testing fuel cell technology

“It is our mission to produce one of nature’s greatest products, milk, in a safe and environmentally friendly way. We will do this in a cost-effective manner that will ensure our long-term success in the dairy industry.” - John Vrieze

Managing waste through:

• NuWay™ system, which breaks down cow manure into re-usable elements.

Seoul Dairy Company with advanced production system and clean technology, Geochang plant, one of the leading clean plants in the World, keeps up the quality of recycled water at the level of 1ppm in BOD and 3ppm in COD.