The delivery of prepared foods and beverages calls for secure packaging, low container cost and easy to recycle materials.

Dry manufacture solder seamed cans have been replaced with wet manufacture two piece aluminium and steel cans with ‘easy open’ ends and closures. Manufacture of the packaging calls for deep drawing using water/oil based lubricants, which in turn have to be removed from the can to allow decoration and internal coating with food protecting lacquers.

Simple warm soap based cleaning is effective but presents it own difficulties. The soaps are high in phosphates and other bio-nutrients. These easily encourage the growth of algae from air born spores, which enter the cleaner and associated rinses.

e-RPM has developed technologies for continuous sterilisation of the process water using ultraviolet sterilisation, as well as membrane based water purification for the final ultrapure rinse. This avoids use of industrial regeneration chemicals so close to the food chain.

Wastewater issues arising from the removal of the coolant oils and the resultant unacceptable Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) are addressed using our Nutrient sustained fixed film bioreactors (FFRs), which remove the oil in an environmentally acceptable manner.

Discharge conformance and rinse quality are ideal candidates for Remote Process Monitoring and Rinserite technologies to support plant facilities management