BUSINESS: 327 PRACTICES
In Northern Greece, in the middle of the fertile valley of Strymonas and just 3 km from the town of Serres, is the state-of-the-art factory of the dairy industry Kri Kri SA.
With a history since 1954, Kri Kri SA today produces ice creams and yogurts from 100% Greek milk from Serres and has managed to win over Greek and foreign consumers.
At the Kri Kri company, recognizing that sustainable development and the circular economy are a global priority, we are transforming our production model based on ESG standards and taking action, investing in the creation of a state-of-the-art biogas production unit and cogeneration of electricity & heat with a capacity of 998kW, on site of our facilities in Serres.
The goals of our action are:
It is pointed out that the production of biogas is carried out exclusively through the liquid waste & whey of our industry.
The duration of the project from the conception of the idea to the start of operation was 3 years.
More specifically:
As part of the operation of Kri Kri, at the same time as the production of our favorite ice creams and yogurts, liquid waste is also produced, as well as whey. To produce one kilogram of strained yogurt, three kilograms of raw milk are required. The remaining two kilograms constitute the whey, where this whey contains a very large amount of organic solids in the form of lactose and therefore cannot be processed by the Sewage Treatment Facility (WTP) of the Municipality of Serres.
The anaerobic treatment and biogas production unit installed in our facilities is a pioneering high-tech project, because it will utilize high volume and high organic load waste resulting from the production of ice cream, dairy products and whey.
A combination of two reactors was chosen for anaerobic treatment and biogas production:
A) A state-of-the-art and innovative ECSB-type reactor of high output and high loading, which is based on the use of granular biomass, and biodegrades within a few hours, the soluble organic substrate of waste & whey.
B) A low-load, long-residence CSTR-type reactor, which biodegrades the solid and oily phase of the waste that needs to be separated before entering the ECSB reactor.
The biogas produced from the two reactors is utilized within the company's facilities, contributing to the reduction of natural gas usage, as a large part of the plant's need for natural gas is covered by the produced biogas. The savings in the use of natural gas amounts to 30%.
Then, within May 2022, the produced biogas will be sent to the cogeneration unit, where electricity will be produced and distributed to the DEDDIE network, while at the same time heat recovery will be carried out to produce hot water and steam, contributing to the reduction of the use of natural gas.
Production facilities of our company in Serres
The project had the absolute support and undivided support of our company's General Management and was implemented by our company's Factory Management in collaboration with the Supply Chain Management.
Employees from almost all departments of the company contributed to the successful outcome of this action.
The benefits resulting from this action are many and multi-layered. More specifically, we expect the following benefits:
