The Netherlands – DCP ingredients in Ter Apelkanaal will reuse its own CO2 emissions. Its innovative production system uses carbon dioxide as a base for the acid required for their collagen products, instead of the standard nitric or hydrochloric acid. Director Jacques ten Kate: ‘We developed the process ourselves. The CO2 mineralizes to calcium carbonate. We use the acid to separate fat and protein into collagen.’
DCP ingredients in Ter Apelkanaal produces food ingredients. You won’t find packets of their collagen ingredients in most home kitchens, but they’re essential to make many products on supermarket shelves.
Profit
Last year, DCP commissioned a brand-new product line for the ‘nutraceutical’ – or health food-industry. They now also produce ingredients for food supplements, to be used in hospitals, fitness centres and more. Ten Kate: ‘Because we’re always looking for the highest added value. We have developed a new production method for this, with very low energy consumption.’
‘We are now investigating the optimal way to do this’, Ten Kate continues. ‘I believe you should do everything possible to reduce emissions. It’s not just important for People and the Planet, it’s also healthy for Profit.’
Protein
Ten Kate underlines that sustainability and cost-effectiveness in production are no longer conflicting factors. With the rising costs of fossil-fuel energy, and of CO2 emission charges, it is becoming increasingly logical for firms to move towards climate neutrality.
Transportation
Currently, the required CO2 is supplied from Rotterdam. That will change in the near future. DCP’s vision is to use the CO2 from his factory chimney and thus kill two birds with one stone: No more emissions pumped into the environment, and no more CO2–transportation.