only contains a tiny amount of C6 and it has to be imported from Malaysia and Indonesia. The organic residue streams we use come from local fruit and vegetable processing facilities, which are the major suppliers of supermarkets in the Nether- lands. We’re actually the first company worldwide to be able to offer this product in large quantities that are obtained from a renewable, circular and truly sustainable source.”
From organic residues to fatty acids To produce the fatty acids the company uses mixed culture fermentation – a technology that is also used in fermentation plants for biogas production and is analagous to human food digestion. Van Stralen: “Bacteria break down the carbohy- drates, proteins and fats into short fatty acids (SCFAs). In a normal anaerobic digestion plant biogas (methane and CO2
)
is derived from these SCFAs. Basically, we ensure that that very last step doesn’t take place and we extend those short fatty acid chains to longer chains (MCFAs), making them more valuable.” After the first fermentation the remaining sol- id particles such as hard-to-degrade fibres and proteins are separated using a centrifuge. The remaining liquid substance, which contains the SCFAs, enters a second fermentation pro- cess, in which ethanol is added (this is obtained from beer brewers who make 0% alcohol beer). Van Stralen stresses that
▶ ALL ABOUT FEED | Volume 28, No. 7, 2020 23
they only use naturally occurring bacteria in the fermentation process: “We don’t work with genetically modified bacteria.” The product of the second fermentation is a liquid which still contains bacteria and fine particles. To get a pure, clean prod- uct several other steps are required. Ultrafilitration and re- verse osmosis membranes are used to obtain a concentrated fatty acid solution. Next, dissolved molecules are filtered out by nano-filtration and the concentrated solution goes
In the current factory, 20,000 tons of organic residues can be processed into 2,000 tons of fatty acids.
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