New conveyer solution to boost both hygiene and energy efficiency in the food industry

Meeting industry challenges with a sustainable solution

Conveyer belts are widely employed in the food industry, primarily for production, processing and packaging. But the industry faces several challenges in relation to these. A conveyer system not only uses a vast amount of energy, it is actually the biggest carrier of bacteria in the production chain. For these reasons, the market is looking for better solutions that optimise operations and ensure better hygiene.

Danish conveyer expert Ellegaard gathered a transnational consortium to carry out development and tests of a hygienic and energy efficient conveyer system. The cleanse system is based on vast research regarding self-cleaning surfaces and intelligent cleaning methods. When finilised, the system will increase the general hygiene and reduce the number of man-hours spent on cleaning. For instance, a slaughterhouse will be able to reduce its cleaning hours by 33% meaning a 50% cost reduction. In addition, the system uses 15% less energy compared to state-of-the-art. 

Help for every step of the way

We wrote the successful application, which gave the consortium funds to carry out the two-year project. Initially we helped frame the overall goals and project activities, and define and concretise the economic benefits associated with the project. The fund was granted under the EU’s 7th Framework Programme, which has been replaced by Horizon 2020.