Closing the loop
How Select Harvests are committed to making sure nothing goes to waste
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Situated just outside of Mildura , Select Harvests has developed a system that utilises everything that comes from its orchards . Generally , almond kernel makes up only 27 percent of the total biomass produced in almond production , with hull , shell and organic waste material making up the remaining 73 percent . Almond shell and hull is a valuable byproduct which has typically been sold to the livestock industry as stockfeed . Select Harvests ’ Carina West processing plant operates on a closed-loop system , utilising hull and shell ( the byproduct left over when kernels are released from the shell ) to produce power , compost , organic and biological fertiliser . Cultivating a zero-waste system is a high priority for Select Harvests . “ Part of our sustainability initiative is to try to make sure that anything that goes in comes back as something useful ," said Mark Davis , Select Harvests ' Operations Manager –
In A Nutshell - Winter 2022 Vol 23 Issue
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Part of our sustainability initiative is to try to make sure that anything that goes in comes back as something useful ...
Advanced Processes and Project Engineering . Committed to inciting positive change industry-wide , Select Harvests recently opened the doors to its Carina West facility , inviting other industry professionals to have a firsthand look at the innovative closedloop system . Commissioned in 2018 as part of Select Harvests ’ Project : Hull to Energy , the Co-Gen power plant plays an integral role in the closedloop system , bringing together Select Harvests ’ sustainability initiatives through waste recycling , compost generation , and carbon-neutral power . At the power plant , almond hull and shell is transported from primary processing facilities where it is burnt at a high temperature to produce heat
- Select Harvests Operations Manager - Advanced Processes and Project Engineering Mark Davis
and energy . The power plant produces 20,000 megawatt hours per year , generating enough energy to power the Carina West processing facility and the irrigation pumps at Carina Orchard . Only 60 % of the energy produced by the power plant is utilised by Select Harvests with the remaining 40 % returned to the grid . Select Harvests has found a way to convert the ash produced as waste during the Co-Gen process into highnutrient compost and liquid fertiliser which is returned to their orchards . The Co-Gen power plant produces 2,000 tonnes of wet ash annually . This high-nutrient ash is blended with rock phosphate , lime , gypsum , and organic matter to produce organic compost which is returned to the orchard .