Environmental Responsibility for Distillery

Marky Chavez FOLLOW Management these days seriously take corporate environmental responsibility for distillery operations. A modern business needs to be concerned not only the bottom line. Sustainability is the prime-mover factor in corporate environmental responsibility for distillery management. Operating In a Populated Community The corporate environmental responsibility for distillery operations cannot be neglected. Distilleries process tons of raw materials such as sugar cane to produce liquor and other beverage products. In turn, the processing facilities generate a lot of wastes and by-products which can harm the environment and the residents living near the distilleries. Zoning regulations in most countries strictly regulate the establishment of manufacturing plants in population centers. However, communities around such establishments cannot be avoided. These plants, even if established in remote areas, eventually become population magnets. Communities will sprout around them because of the employment opportunities and livelihood sources that these facilities generate. Sooner or later, a sizable community is likely to surround a distillery even if it has been purposively built in a sparsely populated countryside. Guard Against Air Pollution There are many environmental problems that a distillery can cause to its nearby communities. Of major concern is air pollution, as this plant utilizes gases and chemicals which can be toxic to the environment if not properly managed. At the same time, distilleries also directly produce chemicals such as various types of alcohol and by-products, like spent wash. These direct and indirect outputs need proper storage, handling, and in the case of the by-product wastes, efficient treatment, utilization, or disposal. In addition, scrubbers on smoke emissions are required to further prevent air pollution. The problem of disposing distillery wastes becomes of particular concern not only to the company, but also to the human population around the manufacturing facility. These plants are often purposively near a body of water, such a river, bay, or lake. Such locations are advantageous in terms of transporting the plants products to the market. Safeguard the Water-Based Ecosystem

However, an indiscriminate discharge of effluents and liquid wastes from these distilleries can seriously harm the ecosystem of the adjacent bodies of water. Fishes and other organisms will perish and eventually vanish in the aquatic areas around a distillery which does not adapt water pollution control systems. For this reason, government authorities in most countries require distilleries to have wastewater treatment plants before they are allowed to operate. These treatment facilities may employ any of several approaches to ensure that the wastewater discharge wont harm an aquatic ecosystem. Biogas Conversion Plants Some wastewater treatment plants enable the collection of the spent wash in large tanks where effluents settle and are filtered. Tests are conducted on the water before being discharged to a river, lake, or bay. In some facilities, there are even ponds with live fishes to monitor the quality of the water. Provisions are also sometimes adopted for the storage of water in tanks for use later in cleaning the facilities in the distillery. Any surplus water can also be a reservoir for firefighting purposes. Another alternative in dealing with corporate environmental responsibility for distillery operations is the installation of a spent wash conversion facility. Many modern distilleries have taken this approach in dealing with their wastewater discharge. Having this type of wastewater plant may entail significant capital outlay, however. It will entail building a plant capable of converting the spent wash into biogas. In the long run, nonetheless, such a project can be selfliquidating as the conversion plants output can serve as an energy source for a distillery