Process water (effluent) treatment, as well as disposal of residues such as yeast, spent grains, dust among other things in breweries represent a costly problem as far as current practice is concerned. As costs for energy and fresh water increase, novel anaerobic/aerobic processes (FFF process for solid-liquid fermentation) allows operating costs to be turned into income.

China’s packaging industry is demonstrating its growing strength in the global arena. The total value of the packaging industry was RMB 7.2 billion in 1980, and it increased rapidly to RMB 627 billion in 2008. Both the structures of the packaging industry and the products have evolved rapidly with the advancement in economy and technology. The Sino-Pack/China Drinktec 2010 will take place in Guangzhou from 9th to 11th March.

On October 2 in Brussels (Belgium), the international jury for Pentawards2009, a worldwide competition dedicated to packaging creativity, recognized the Sidel Packaging Design department for its PET beer bottle.

The European Hygienic Engineering and Design Group (EHEDG) has prepared a new guideline on aseptic food and beverage production. This guideline, of particular importance to the beverage industry, describes the configuration of an aseptic machine concept so that impeccable products can be produced in a safe and reliable process. The EHEDG also contains details on new certification possibilities and events.

Krones has developed a new cellar concept that design-enhances the field-proven double-seat valve technology with a decentralised approach to fully automated cellar systems. The new TwinPro cellar concept is based on double-seat valves, grouped together in filling and draining racks. Several tanks can be linked to the filling and draining valve racks in what are called tank loops. The number of tanks per loop is chosen to meet the specific requirements of the client concerned.

The company Teutoburger Christinen­brunnen GmbH & Co. in Bielefeld has realized and implemented new options in the area of the filling hygiene in a short term. In June 2008 a filling line in the plant Bielefeld was upgraded, so that during the running production the required hygiene status is kept during the whole filling time. With this technology beverages can be filled in their native form without adding any preservative

Medella Light is the main brand produced by the only brewery in Puerto Rico: Cervecería India. Cervecería is considered one of the most up-to-the-minute breweries in Latin America operating under the American flag. It was recently modernized on a huge scale, with new buildings, a new brewhouse, and new plant equipment. Craig Hylwa, Operations Team Leader at Cervecería India, set high quality standards: As regards the new investment in filling and packaging technology he went for KHS technology in the fields of canning, glass bottling and keg filling systems.

GlobalMalt, one of the world’s leading malting groups based in Germany, will complete the extension of its malthouse GlobalMalt Polska in Bydgoszcz/Poland within the fourth quarter of 2009. Thus the yearly production capacity of this site will be doubled to become 85,000 tons.

The Ziemann Group announces a further major development at the drinktec 2009 fair: After acquiring a majority holding in the company BMS Maschinenfabrik, a German manufacturer of packaging and palletising plants, Ziemann has now entered a joint venture with the company Nanjing Light Industrial Machinery Corporation (NLM). The state-owned enterprise NLM is China’s largest manufacturer of filling and packaging plants.

Larry Smith, President and CEO of Thiele Technologies, a leading manufacturer of high-speed integrated packaging equipment solutions headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has announced the acquisition of Hudson-Sharp Machinery Company of Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Brussels, Belgium, a world leader in the design and manufacture of plastic bag machinery, pouch making equipment and re-closable packaging solutions.