WAREWASHING
parts of the world are facing scarcity in the years ahead. “Ergonomics is important
because finding kitchen porters is like finding hen’s teeth, so equipment must be easy to use and easy to train people on,” says Jary. “All food waste comes back to the dishwasher area, so that is where we manage it. And these areas are getting smaller and smaller, so we must make everything as compact and efficient as possible.”
HEEDING THE NEEDS OF OPERATORS
Many manufacturers have invested heavily in R&D and made significant improvements. For example, the pre-wash stage used to use clean water, but now many machines use water recycled from the end of the cycle to remove dirt from plates before the main wash. Dirty water is filtered and cascaded back to the start of the cycle. On energy, the biggest step
forward has been in the use of reclaimed heat. Warewashing equipment produces a lot of
steam, which can be used to heat water for the next wash cycle, resulting in a significant reduction in energy use, costs and carbon emissions. Heat exchangers such as hood- mounted steam condensers can efficiently preheat cold water and reduce the burden on the main water heater. “Heat recovery was a
big step forward,” says Tarah Schroeder FCSI, managing principal and COO of Ricca Design Studios. “Tere has also been a lot of focus on addressing idle energy use and making machines smarter and easier to use. Going trayless could have an impact on food waste, and we’re looking at lower waster usage per rack too. Owners and operators in large institutional projects are also thinking about recruitment and retention, so they want to make it a more comfortable environment in which to work.” Heat recovery can cut
energy use by as much as
“Large institutional projects are thinking about recruitment and retention so they want to make it a comfortable environment in which to work”
20% in some operations. Furthermore, newer machines are using small granules added to a high-pressure rinse to scrub plates with less hot water and shorter cycles, cutting water and energy use by a further 10-15%. In many dishrooms, food
waste is transported by pump or vacuum to a holding tank to go to anaerobic digestion, and there has not only been a concerted effort to reduce the amount of detergent that is required to achieve high standards of hygiene, but manufacturers are also
Manufacturers work with operators and consultants to improve equipment
working closely with chemical manufacturer partners to ensure that any chemicals that go to the drain are not harmful. “Warewashing is
continuous, so it is a prime target for efficiency gains, and a lot has already been done with energy-efficient pumps and heat recovery,” says Vinoo André Mehera FCSI, CEO of promaFox. “You are impacting energy
gains, water use, chemicals with smart dosage – a lot of things that have negative connotations – so there are multiple wins.”
FOUNDATIONS FOR THE FUTURE
Manufacturers and consultants alike believe that the evolution of sustainability in warewashing will be led by AI and automation. Intelligent systems will help to monitor performance and will operate
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