Water
Water
Water, the most important resource globally, is one of many input factors in the production processes of the Südzucker Group. Our production plants are characterized by the fact that the required amount of fresh water is reduced to a minimum by recycling the water used. In many cases, the water bound up in the agricultural raw materials – sugar beet and apples consist of about 75 % and 85 % water respectively – is also used in the processes.
Recycling: multiple use of the valuable resource
About three quarters of the processed sugar beet consists of water. This water is used for unloading the sugar beets, washing them, transporting them through the factory and extracting the sugar from the cossettes.
The water is thus circulated and can be used several times, saving costs and protecting the environment. The water from the raw material sugar beet currently covers over 95 % of the factories' fresh water requirements (excluding continuous cooling).
Natural rain instead of artificial irrigation
For a high yield, the sugar beet not only needs a nutrient-rich soil, moderate temperatures and plenty of light. Especially in July and August it also needs a lot of water. In agriculture, sugar beet is also known as the "queen of field crops" because it is a very demanding crop.
Südzucker Group's sugar factories are located in the best beet growing areas in Europe, where there is both sufficient sunshine and sufficient natural rainfall. Accordingly, more than 95 % of the sugar beet grown for Südzucker is not artificially irrigated. This saves farmers money and protects the groundwater in the growing regions.
Energy from waste water
The Südzucker Group attaches great importance to the environmentally friendly treatment of waste water and operates aerobic and anaerobic industrial waste water treatment plants where necessary.
At those locations that have anaerobic treatment plants, biogas is extracted from the waste water using a modern process. The gas thus obtained can in turn be used as an energy source and contributes to reducing the use of fossil energy.
