DEPARTMENT OF PROCESS AND FOOD ENGINEERING

EPF 3501: WASTE TREATMENT AND UTILISATION

SEMESTER 1 – 2020/2021

MINI PROJECT

TOPIC: IMPROVISE CURRENT WASTE TREATMENT SYSTEM AND

WASTE UTILISATION FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE IN
CADBURY SCHWEPPER COMPANY

LECTURER: DR. SITI HAJAR ARIFFIN

PREPARED BY: NOR ADLIAH BT ABD AZIZ

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 2
Background of the Company ....................................................................................................... 3
Type of The Waste Generated ..................................................................................................... 3
How the Company Manage the Waste ........................................................................................ 3
Water ........................................................................................................................................... 3
Gaseous Waste ............................................................................................................................ 5
Solid Waste ................................................................................................................................. 5
Packaging and Material Conservatives ....................................................................................... 6
Current existing waste management ........................................................................................... 8
Improvement to the current system .......................................................................................... 10
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 12
References .................................................................................................................................... 13

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Abstract

Nowadays, the increasing quantity of the wastes has causes serious environmental problem
which requires a better solution in handling the wastes that generate. For that reason, a proper way
of handling wastes is significance in reducing the negative impacts towards the environment,
social, and economy. Sustainable waste management is introduced to maintain the balance
between the environment, social and economic aspects through several ways such as acts
implementation, and techniques in managing waste. Therefore, it is essential to identify current
waste management system adopted by industry in order to make adjustment and improvement in
moving towards sustainable waste management. This paper highlights the current waste
management system implemented in Cadbury Schweppes company and the improvement for better
performance in waste management through reviewing past similar researches founded in the
internet. The results obtained show that the current waste management systems applied in Cadbury
Schweppes is very well managed since they are a top global company and have their own
environmental policy that need to be followed. Cadbury Schweppes company always make the
best in keep improving their waste management system using the modern current technologies.

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Introduction

The increasing number of wastes has become the biggest environmental problem in the
world. Population growth s led to the increase in generation of waste and it has become a crucial
issue to be solved. The waste generated are from sources like domestic, industrial and commercial
and it shows an increasing trend throughout the world. Rapid development and changing lifestyles
in growing cities have changed waste composition from mainly organic to mainly plastics, paper,
and packaging materials that are complex in nature. Storage and collection systems are becoming
more sophisticated and costly as the types and sources of waste produced become more diversified,
and as the availability of disposal sites within the collection areas becomes limited. Due to this
reason, waste management plays an important role in maintaining a sustainable environment.
Furthermore, pollution caused by the waste has caused negative impacts towards the environment
and leads to economic loss. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO), around 1.3billion metric tons or approximately one-third of all food produced for
humans is wasted worldwide each year. In total, around 3.3 billion metric tons of CO2 equivalent,
250 km3 of blue water, and 1.4billion hectares, which represents approximately one third of the
world’s agricultural area, is associated with not-consumed or wasted food. Therefore, to reduce
the total amount of wastes generated, an optimal waste management system should be adopted in
order to achieve sustainability. In the process of achieving sustainability in waste management, it
requires the cooperation of every waste management practitioners involved with suitable method
or technology used. As a result, the purpose of this study is to find out the current waste
management implemented in Cadbury Schweppes, and also the improvement that can be done in
achieving sustainability in waste management. This paper provides an insight of the current
existing ways on how Cadbury Schweppes manages the waste they generated. Besides, it provides
some idea in where the improvement can be done in the current existing waste management.

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Background of the Company

Cadbury Schweppes is a major global company in beverages and confectionery which

manufactures, markets and distributes its branded products. Cadbury Schweppes was formed in
1969 through the merger of Cadbury and Schweppes. The Cadbury brand is the largest
confectionery brand in the world, while Schweppes is one of the most famous soft drinks brands.
The organizational structure reflects the two areas of business focus, Beverages and Confectionery.

Type of The Waste Generated

Wastewater, gaseous waste and solid waste includes food, industrial and packaging waste.

How the Company Manage the Waste

Water
Water is the main ingredient of their beverage products. However, in both of their
Confectionery and Beverage businesses they use large volumes of water during the production
process, for cooling, heating and to wash and rinse equipment and surfaces. As a major user of
water, they continually seek opportunities for reducing their consumption.

Figure 1: The total water consumed in million m3 and m3of water consumed per tonne of product
for three years.

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 From Figure 1, it shows that the total water consumed in million m3 and m3 of water
consumed per tonne of product decline for that three years. The plant that they implemented in
their factory show the reducing in the water consumption. For example, in Portugal, their Venda
plant has optimised its bottle washer performance and installed back-wash water reuse systems,
which have allowed the factory to reduce water consumption by 57%. Next, their Trebor Allan
plant in Hamilton, Canada has been investigating the concept of a Zero Effluent factory, where all
process water emissions are eliminated through the use of improved cleaning and cooling
techniques. Reusable and non-reusable water is separated, with the usable water going into making
liquid sugar and the remainder used as cattle feed. The techniques developed at Hamilton not only
reduce wastewater emissions but help to minimise the factory's demand on water supplies.

The wastewater they generate during the production process contains materials such as
sugar, flavourings, acids, cleaning fluids, soaps and fats. Wastewater discharges from their
factories are usually sent to the local municipal wastewater treatment plant, with some on-site pre-
treatment such as pH neutralisation. In other cases, wastewaters are fully treated on-site before
being released to rivers or lakes. They continue an active programme to minimise their wastewaters
and where necessary install and operate the most appropriate modern effluent treatment plant.
They monitor the water consumption at their factories both for total volume and by how much
water is used to manufacture one tonne of product.

Figure 2: The total wastewater discharge in million m3 and m3 of wastewater discharged per
tonne of product.

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Gaseous Waste

Most of their plants have boilers to generate hot water and steam which is used for cooking,
pasteurisation, cleaning, sterilising and heating. Their boilers burn different types of fuel, mainly
natural gas and oil, releasing air-borne emissions. Cleaner burning natural gas now makes up 58%
of the fuel they consume at their factories. Refrigerants are used for cooling during processing and
product storage to preserve product quality. The release into the atmosphere of CFC and HCFC
refrigerant gases contribute to ozone depletion. They are seeking to reduce their impact on air
quality by monitoring the quantity of pollutants they emit, replacing old boiler equipment with
energy efficient low emission boilers, measuring refrigerant usage, increasing the use of low or
non-ozone depleting refrigerants, converting over to cleaner burning fuels and installing
equipment to filter out the level of pollutants discharged. CO2 and other gases produced are
directly related to the quantity and combustion efficiency of the fuel consumed.

Solid Waste
Food Waste

Organic materials such as cocoa shell, orange, lemon, apple and other fruit waste pulps,
form the most significant part of their solid wastes. In most cases this waste is still valuable after
processing and can have a second life as animal feed or fertiliser.

Industrial and General Waste

The waste items generated, can be separated into re-used or recycled. Typically, products
such as pallets, crates, paper and metals are collected separately at each site. Maximizing
opportunities to reuse secondary packaging materials for intercompany transfers and buying
materials in bulk are helping them to reduce the quantity of waste they generate. Some industrial
processes materials may become classified as hazardous waste after used. Solvents used in printing
and cleaning machinery, inks, special cleaners and ash may fall into this category. These wastes
are disposed of using licensed contractors. They are becoming much better at measuring and
classifying the tonnage of waste and recycled materials. Their overall tonnage of solid waste sent
to landfill has decreased because of diversion. Diversion includes reduction, reuse, recycling and
incineration. During 1997, 92% of solid wastes from the beverage businesses and 57% from the
confectionery businesses were diverted from landfill.

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Packaging and Material Conservatives
Reducing packaging

At Cadbury Schweppes they have considerable experience in the lightweighting of

consumer packaging. Light-weighting involves reducing the amount of packaging material used,
while retaining the required structural properties of the package. The weights of soft drink cans,
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic and glass bottles have all been significantly reduced over
the past decades by the use of better designs, technology and materials.

Another example of packaging weight reduction is the introduction of flow wraps and other
lightweight wraps for a wide range of confectionery products. However, in some markets where
flow wrap has replaced the familiar traditional metal foil and paper banding for chocolate bars, it
has not met with consumer acceptance for some products used as gift items. They also take
opportunities where appropriate to use multipacks and lightweight secondary display packs and
cartons. They have used stretch wrap to replace full depth cardboard cartons and reduced the
number of separation layer sheets used on pallets.

Figure 3: Graph of the reduction of 2.0 litre PET plastic bottle weight in grammes and can gauge
thickness in cm for a few years.

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 Returnable bottles are another way, although when examining the environmental benefits
of this route, it is vital to consider the environmental impact of the transportation of empty bottles
and the water, materials and energy used in bottle washing. However, in some of their markets,
such as Spain, the reuse of consumer bottles is well established. Other initiatives to reduce material
consumption include the recycling of waste plastic within the production process by factories in
Australia & France.

Packaging and other waste recycling

Beverage containers, which tend to be glass, aluminium, steel or PET plastic are easier for
consumers to collect and separate for recycling than confectionery wrappers. Within their factory
production units, they separate packaging and other different waste materials for recycling. They
are members of several industry funded organisations including BIEC in Australia, Eco-
Emballages in France, Ecoembes in Spain, DSD in Germany, Fost Plus in Belgium and Valpak in
the UK. These organisations have been established in various countries to reduce the amount of
packaging being landfilled and to promote recycling and other forms of recovery. Litter A
perennial problem they face is how people dispose of their product packaging. Litter is a complex
issue reflecting how different people and cultures throughout the world appreciate and treat their
environment.

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Current existing waste management

Since Cadbury Schweppes is a major global company in beverages and confectionery, they
need to act in a responsible manner by complying with legislation and meeting public expectations
of a global food and drinks company. Besides, best environmental performance contributes them
to better business results. Environmental performance always related with waste management. A
proper way of handling wastes is significance in reducing the negative impacts towards the
environment. The company have an organization that started with main board that is responsible
overall for environmental performance. Performance is closely monitored by the Environmental
Steering Committee, which reports to the Main Board. Then, they have Business Stream where
they responsible for coordinating the environmental management programme and providing
support where required to Business Units. At company and site level, operational line management
is responsible for ensuring that the processes and performance measures are in place to implement
the Policy. Referring to this system, it shown they are strict in following the environmental policy.

Besides, Cadbury Schweppes also have developed a global training programme for factory
management to ensure that all those with environmental responsibilities have a clear understanding
of environmental issues and best practices. Factory workers on production lines are receiving
hands-on instruction in key areas including hazardous materials management and spill cleaned up.
Topics covered include general environmental awareness, the application of the company’s
environmental policies, waste management, emissions, resource conservation and safety and
emergency preparedness. This training programme has help in improving the waste management
system in the company.

Based on their waste treatment, they did follow the Hierarchy of Waste Management. We
can see that they do prevention step to reduce the waste produced. For water waste, they introduce
and implemented plants such as Venda plants where back-wash water reuse system is used in
reducing the water consume in their factory. Next, to reduce their impact on air quality, they
monitor the quantity of pollutants they emit, replace old boiler equipment with energy efficient
low emission boilers, measure refrigerant usage, increase the use of low or non-ozone depleting
refrigerants, converting over to cleaner burning fuels and installing equipment to filter out the level
of pollutants discharged. They also use the lightweight packaging to reduce plastics waste.

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 Next step in the waste hierarchy is preparing for reuse. For water, the usable water is used
in making liquid sugar and the remainder used as cattle feed. While for food waste, it has been
reused as animal feed. In some of their markets, such as Spain, the reuse of consumer bottles is
well established. Consider the environmental impact of the transportation of empty bottles and the
water, materials and energy used in bottle washing, it is better than to make new bottle packaging.

The third level in waste hierarchy is recycling and composting. Recycling involves the
collection, separation and manufacturing to make new products which is made from recycle
materials. Recycling saves energy by eliminating the need to make materials from scratch. For
beverage containers such as glass, aluminium, steel or PET plastic are easier for consumer to
collect and separate for recycling. Within their factory production units, they separate packaging
and other different waste materials for recycling. While for food waste, it is composted to make
new fertiliser products.

Then, the recovery stage where wastewater discharges from their factories are sent to the
local municipal wastewater treatment plant and some on-site pre-treatment such as pH
neutralization is done. In other cases, wastewaters are fully treated on-site before being released
to rivers or lakes. Disposal is the last option in the waste hierarchy. Cadbury Schweppes are
members of several industry funded organisations. These organisations have been established in
various countries to reduce the amount of packaging being landfilled and to promote recycling and
other forms of recovery.

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Improvement to the current system

Sustainable Packaging Chocolate Bar wrapped in paper

While plastic will continue to play an important role in maintaining shelf life and
minimizing food waste, there will be some products that could be packaged in emerging packaging
materials, including paper flow-wrap. The introduction of flow wraps and other lightweight wraps
for a wide range of confectionery products is good. However, paper packaging is much better
because it can be recycled in existing paper streams. Paper packaging receives increased attention
with flow wraps, leading food manufacturers to consider the change from conventional packaging
materials to paper-based packaging. Nevertheless, paper is not as easy to package as films and
poses its own challenges when used on existing flow wrapping machines. Mondelez International,
to which the Cadbury brand belongs, has committed to making all of its packaging recyclable by
2025 through materials innovation. Recently, Mondelēz International approached Syntegon
Technology, formerly Bosch Packaging Technology, with a challenging request to package
Cadbury chocolate tablets in fully recyclable paper flow wraps. Following Syntegon Technology’s
vision to provide intelligent and sustainable solutions for everyone, work on sustainable solutions
for paper flow wrapping had already taken shape within the company. A year of continued
development resulted in a forming unit and sealing jaws for cold sealing applications. In the form
of an upgrade kit, the solution has now successfully been test trialed on Cadbury’s flow wrapping
machines for chocolate tablets. The decision made by Mondelēz International in replacing the
plastic packaging to paper packaging is the best choice to save the environment and reduce the
solid waste.

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Optimize packaging design to extend shelf life

The packaging has a significant role in reducing food waste by extending the shelf life of
food. Appropriate packaging may help to protect food and prolong its shelf life so that it safely
reaches to the consumers. When the shelf life of food is longer, more food can be consumed and
thus less food waste is produced. Some achievements in this regard, including reclosing packs to
prevent dehydration in the fridge in order to extend the food shelf life. Factors such as improving
the design of the secondary packaging, flexible packaging, resealability, less weight for shipping
and transporting of the package, as well as using less volume to take up valuable landfill space
will contribute to a decline in food wastage. In developed countries, food tends to be wasted rather
at the household's level due to wasteful behavior. The packaging may be one of the drivers due to
inappropriate packaging sizes and packaging that is difficult to empty. Other investigated measures
encompass improved pack sealing and developing sensors for monitoring the release of gases in
the food package. It is suggested that packaging attributes, such as desired quantity, mechanical
protection, easy opening, and food safety information should be included when deciding on
packaging. However, consumers’ apparent lack of knowledge and awareness and ability to manage
their food provision, storage, preparation or make the best and most effective use of such
packaging creates problems. Such difficulties include people not making use of a packaging
functionality such as reclosing packs to prevent dehydration in the fridge. Moreover, they do not
always follow guidance on packages such as when to consume by, how to store and whether the
product can be frozen. Packaging could have an essential role to play in preserving the value
invested in products by ensuring that they can deliver their designed service with minimum
wastage.

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Conclusion

In reducing the total amount of wastes generated, an optimal waste management system
should be adopted in order to achieve sustainability. In the process of achieving sustainability in
waste management, it requires the cooperation of every waste management practitioners involved
with suitable method or technology used. Everyone needs to play their role to achieve the
sustainability in waste management to reduce the waste produced. Based on the waste management
system for Cadbury Schweppes company, they are very strict in managing the waste generated.
They always keep improving the waste management system with the latest technology founded to
get the best results. To improve their packaging, future packaging developments should focus on
further advancements in packaging technology, but should not neglect the importance of indirect
effects of packaging. The packaging design should be made based on the demands of the packaging
across the whole supply to optimize the product in reducing food losses and waste. This should be
done by undertaking studies on consumer behavior as well as the provision of education and the
collaboration between producers, and retailers. More research is required to quantify packaging-
related food loss and waste so that life cycle assessments can incorporate the direct as well as the
indirect environmental effects of packaging to help facilitate the environmentally preferable
choice.

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References

Syntegon. (2020, May 18). Paper packaging for Cadbury chocolate tablet with Syntegon
Technology. Retrieved from https://www.syntegon.com/news/success-story/paper-
packaging-for-cadbury

Asia Pacific Food Industry (2020, October 9). Paper Packaging For Cadbury Chocolate Tablet.
https://apfoodonline.com/industry/paper-packaging-for-cadbury-chocolate-tablet/

Wohner, B., Pauer, E., Krauter, V. & Tacker, M. (2019). Packaging-Related Food Losses and
Waste: An Overview of Drivers and Issues, 11(1):264. doi: 10.3390/su11010264

El-Fadel, M., & Maalouf, A. (2019). Challenges of Waste Management in a Developing Context:
Lessons From Lebanon. Sustainable Waste Management Challenges in Developing
Countries, pp360. doi: 10.4018/978-1-7998-0198-6

Idris, A., Inanc, B., Hassan, M. N., (2004). Overview of Waste Disposal and Landfills/dumps in
Asian Countries. Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management, 6(2), 104-110. doi:
10.1007/s10163-004-0117-y

Amani, P., & Gadde, L.E. (2015). Shelf life extension and food waste reduction. SP Technical
Research Institute of Sweden - Food and Bioscience, Gothenburg, Sweden 2 & Chalmers
University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden. doi:10.18461/PFSD.2015.1502

Tey, J.S., Goh, K., Kek, S.L. & Goh, H. H. (2013). Current practice of waste management
system in Malaysia: towards sustainable waste management. Retrieved from
http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/id/eprint/5381/1/FPTP_Paper.pdf

Cadbury Schweppes (n.d.). Cadbury Schweppes plc Environment Report. Retrieved from
http://reports.investis.com/reports/cbry_er_en_1999/downloads/complete.pdf

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