Veolia awarded WWTP, biogas contract by Italian rice producer

Veolia Water Technologies Italia has been awarded a contract to engineer and procure a new wastewater treatment plant (WWTP).

Riso Scotti, a major Italian rice production company, commissioned the plant for its factory in Pavia, Milan. Biogas produced during the treatment process will be reused within a ‘circular and integrated production cycle’.

With a treatment capacity of 900 cubic metres per day (m3/day), the scope of this project includes Veolia-patented technologies Biothane UASB™ and AnokKaldnes MBBR™ for the anaerobic and aerobic treatment for wastewater, which will reach up to 90% efficiency in the elimination of organic matter. The treatment line is complemented with an Idraflot™ dissolved air flotation system for a ‘final polishing step’ of the effluent and an increase in solids removal.

In line with Riso Scott’s sustainability goals, biogas produced during the anaerobic stage will be valorised as energy to be reused in the production cycle.

“Riso Scotti’s story is one of continuity linked to tradition and innovation,” said Lorenzo Cerri, the firm’s energy, safety, and environment manager.

“Ours is no longer a rice mill, but a real food industry, which uses natural resources and by-products of rice processing to produce those energy carriers, primarily steam, necessary for the processing of rice.

“The excellence of a company lies in the ability to innovate products but also to innovate processes, so that they are performing, efficient, and less impactful.”

The contract is the result of an ‘exhaustive’ water cycle audit carried out at the factory, concluding with a pilot project that demonstrated the efficiency of the treatment line proposed by Veolia. The return on investment, which was ‘instrumental’ in the company having its own WWTP, is estimated at around €400,000 per year.

Olivier Jenoc, CEO of Veolia Water Technologies for southern Europe and Germany, commented: “We are very proud to have been able, in a short period of time, to put together a customised technological solution based on our standard products and digital services.

“This project perfectly exemplifies how Veolia can help companies achieve their production goals in a sustainable way.”