Project Summary

This two-year project provides DCU Water Institute with infrastructure and unique test-bed facilities for investigating a number of new technologies, retro-fitting technologies and translating technologies from other areas into the beef production domain. These facilities will be available beyond the duration of this project and will prove to be a valuable addition to the biotechnology and engineering research community in DCU Water institute. The research in this project while related to the waste water streams of the beef producer company, can have relevance to other food production companies (e.g. dairy), or other industries with problematic issues primarily relating to ammonia and solids removal.

This project aims to improve the treatment of waste water in meat processing plants in a sustainable, environmentally-friendly and cost efficient manner. This will be achieved through four related interdisciplinary sub-projects. The EXEMPLAR project proposed here, combines expertise from a number of researchers from DCU’s Water Institute (across 4 schools in two faculties), working together with John Durkan, Environmental and Sustainability Manager of the ABP Food Group, and his team. The main objective is to treat waste water in meat-processing plants in a more sustainable, environmentally-friendly and cost efficient way.