Sofidel has started up a wastewater treatment plant at its Delicarta Paper Mill in Italy.
The overall investment for the implementation of the project – which the company said is the first in the paper tissue sector – was €3m.
The technology used makes it possible to recover up to 75% of wastewater, saving 350,000m3 fresh water annually.
The process involves three phases: in the first phase the wastewater undergoes a biological process, in the second (for solid-liquid separation) it undergoes a ultrafiltration section, and the third and last phase aims to eliminating the remaining salt fraction, a process that consists of a reverse osmosis system.
The company’s technical partner is Degremont, with General Electric handling the MBR (Membrane Biological Reactor) aspect of the process.