Cleaner Production
Case Study
Better coffee
with less water
Cleaner production involves reducing
the consumption of raw materials
(including water and energy) and
reducing the volume and toxicity of
waste and other emissions.
Industry:
Coffee growing and processing
Mountain Top Coffee
Mountain Top Coffee (MTC) is
a family-owned company. The
Ford family purchased land at
Mountain Top and established
the plantation in 1999. In 2001
MTC established the largest green
coffee processing mill in NSW.
Farm & production
characteristics
Total land: 100 ha
Land planted to coffee: 20 ha
Expansion plans: 20 ha
No. of coffee trees: 60,000
Av. annual rainfall: 1550 mm
Soils: red crazonems
Irrigation: pressure compensated
drip lines at 400 mm spacings
Processing operation: wet mill
with washer separator to remove
floating coffee cherry; green
cherry separator, pulper, criba
screen, mechanical demuscilager
and three gas-fired rotary dryers.
Indicators of the scale
of throughput:
Fertiliser cost: $15,000 a year
Gas drying cost: $10,000 a year
Environmental successes
This is one of a series of case studies
featuring companies that participated
in the Department of Environment
and Climate Change NSW $5 million
‘Profiting from Cleaner Production’
Industry Partnership Program.
NSW companies are discovering that
cleaner production not only protects
the environment but also reduces
operating costs, streamlines processes,
boosts profits and improves staff
engagement and morale.
As both growers and processors,
and with an unrelenting focus on
quality production and management
systems, the Ford family’s aim is to
produce the ‘Grange Hermitage of
the world’s coffee’.
Concentrated in the Northern Rivers
Region, the NSW coffee industry has
grown from less than 50 to more than
400 hectares in the past ten years.
About 130 small-scale ‘boutique’ coffee
orchards have been established.
All of the coffee produced in Australia
uses a wet process—large amounts of
water are used to wash and transport
coffee through the mill. To date there
has been little research into the quality
of this used water to determine its
suitability for reuse and recycling
within the mill and for irrigation.
What did they do?
Working with an environmental
consultant, MTC embarked on a fourstage cleaner production project which
ran for 18 months:
Stage 1 was an environmental audit.
Data on energy, wastewater, material
resources and water usage was collected
and compared against international
benchmarks. Stage 1 also involved
searching for international standards
for coffee processing and investigating
national and international best practice
in soil chemistry—particularly in
relation to toxicity levels associated
with coffee waste and water reuse.
Stage 2 involved using the results from
the audit to develop and implement a
cleaner production plan. MTC identified
cleaner production opportunities in
wastewater recycling and reuse, solid
waste composting and energy reuse.
Stage 3 involved further investigation
to analyse improvements in water
quality and usage as a result of the
work undertaken in Stage 2. Changes in
energy, wastewater, material resources
and water usage were monitored and
measured as part of a post-harvest
evaluation, and the cleaner production
plan was revised.
Stage 4 involved documenting the
cleaner production outcomes as a case
study. This was presented to other
coffee growers and processors and
disseminated through industry bodies.
Composting solid waste
MTC set up a composting system for
coffee skins and dry husks. The compost
is used to supplement organic fertiliser
used on the coffee trees. Setting up the
system involved analysing and testing
the output and also training staff.
Reducing energy used for drying
Gas flow meters were installed on dryers
so MTC could collect data on weather
conditions and dryer loads. The company
also installed a ‘pre-dryer’ to reduce
drying times and total gas usage.
The testing and analysis protocols for
gas usage proved to be one of the most
successful aspects of this stage of the
project. The protocols will be used to
monitor improvement and determine
the viability of technology upgrades.
For example, further investigations will
look at capturing and reusing ‘waste
air’ from the drying system. This could
reduce total gas usage by 25%.
Improving wastewater
MTC introduced many improvements
to its wastewater system, including:
• adding two new 2,500 L concrete
tanks for storing recycled water,
extending the retention time in the
sedimentation process
• installing mesh filter screens on all
water outlets leading to the recycling
tanks, to trap suspended solids
• installing flow meters to measure
total water usage and fresh water
requirements
• installing timer-activated control
valves to reduce water usage
Coffee bean skins and husks are
composted and used as fertiliser
under the coffee trees.
Equipment for removing the skins and
washing the coffee beans has been
designed to minimise water use and
to use recycled water where possible.
Pre-dryers reduce energy used in the
drying process before the beans are
graded and bagged.
• installing a recirculation line between
recycling and sedimentation tanks
so process water can be used for
multiple days, reducing total fresh
water requirements
• installing a ‘catch tray’ under the
washer tank to prevent dirt and
debris entering the recycling system
• installing a timer-activated float
valve to automatically regulate
water throughout the system.
Supported by staff training, the business
introduced water testing protocols as
part of the daily operational routine.
What were the
costs and savings?
Planned energy reuse systems have
a cost saving forecast of 35–40%,
equating to more than $5,000 a year.
Why did they do it?
The aim of the project was to reduce
total inputs, particularly water and
energy, and to reduce and reuse the
waste outputs. The main motivation
was to reduce total water consumption
and thereby boost the industry’s longterm sustainability. MTC would like
to achieve a closed loop for water, by
recycling and reusing all its wastewater.
What are the
environmental gains?
• Water usage reduced from 10 L to
1.5 L for each kg of coffee processed.
• Total water savings: 9 ML/year
• Potential water savings throughout
the NSW coffee industry: 90 ML/year
• Improved quality of treated water:
biological oxygen demand and total
soluble solids reduced by 35–49%.
• Coffee skins and dry husks are
collected and composted, then put
back onto trees as organic fertiliser.
As a direct result of this project and
other continual improvements, the mill’s
efficiency has almost doubled in three
years. It now operates on a single shift
with reduced operating costs.
Productivity gains are also due to
staff training. Staff now work more
efficiently and require less management.
MTC made huge gains in production
while reducing water consumption. At
the project start coffee production was
40,000 kg green coffee equivalent a
year, using 1.5 ML of water, and at
project completion production was
100,000 kg green coffee equivalent a
year, using 0.5 ML of water.
Reducing the quantity of wastewater
means less water storage is required,
there is lower demand for effluent
storage and treatment and pumping
costs are reduced. The estimated capital
saving resulting from lower water usage
is approximately $50,000.
However, one of the largest cost savings
is the opportunity cost of the water
saved. An irrigation strategy research
report, prepared by MTC in conjunction
with the Rural Industries Research
& Development Corporation, showed
that every ML of water used in coffee
production provides a gross profit of
$2,500. Assuming the MTC facility
has saved almost 9 ML of water due
to this cleaner production project, this
excess water is now suitable for use in
the irrigation system, with a potential
income of $24,500 a year.
Solid waste composting has reduced
the requirement for composted chicken
manure by 40%, saving approximately
$2,500 a year.
Published by Department of Environment and Climate Change NSW;
59–61 Goulburn Street, Sydney; Phone: (02) 9995 5000 (switchboard);
Fax: (02) 9995 5999; TTY: (02) 9211 4723;
Email: info@environment.nsw.gov.au; Website: www.environment.nsw.gov.au;
DECC 2007/410; ISSN 1445-2332; October 2007. Printed on recycled paper.
Where to now?
MTC will continue to roll out its cleaner
production plan, upgrading to new
systems as they become viable due to
improvements in operational efficiency.
For wastewater improvements, manual
screening and solid waste removal
systems will be replaced with a fully
automated system. With a capital cost
of $25,000 this has a forecast annual
labour saving of four man-hours per
operating day, equating to approximately
$5,000 a year, or a payback period of
five years.
Installing a wastewater disposal system
will be the final step in creating the
closed-loop water system, with excess
water treated and used to irrigate trees.
MTC will continue with the monitoring
protocol for energy use and humidity
levels in the dryers to analyse the
viability of reusing hot air. Installing the
pre-dryer (to reduce time in the rotary
dryers) is forecast to yield an annual
energy saving of 10–15%.
More information
Mountain Top Coffee Company
Mountain Top Road
via Georgica NSW 2480
Phone 02 6689 0229
www.mountaintopcoffee.com.au
Department of Environment
and Climate Change NSW
Business Partnerships Section
Phone 02 8837 6000
cleanind@environment.nsw.gov.au