LETTER OF THE DAY - Transform dunder from nuisance to national asset
Published:Friday | October 28, 2011 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
The National Environment and Planning Agency is charged with protecting our environment, but this sometimes conflicts with the need to manufacture goods, create jobs and earn well-needed foreign exchange. The manufacturing of rum and the accompanying waste product, dunder, has long created divisions and concerns for both the manufacturing entity and the enforcement agency.
At its Sarina distillery, near Mackay in North Queensland, Australia, CSR Distilleries has found a way to solve the problem of handling dunder. CSR has changed from an environmental pariah in the local community into a welcome industry.
Here in Jamaica, the pollutant dunder has been blamed for large fish kills, emitting a foul odour and causing environmental degradation.
In 1989, CSR, after research, constructed a new distillery which made the following achievements:
1) Conversion of dunder to a by-product called biodunder, which was sufficiently concentrated to be used as a cane field potassium fertiliser; and
2) Elimination of odour and contamination of local waterways.
The distillery is fully automated and is operated by one person using computer-controlled equipment. Biodunder has been accepted by cane farmers as a valuable potassium-rich fertiliser. CSR now generates revenue from a value-added product, which was previously a pollutant. Public complaints about the distillery have ended.
Revolutionised distilleries
In 1992, the Australian Chemical Industry Council awarded its annual Environmental Award to CSR employees who had been instrumental in developing the biodunder concept. The Sarina distillery was a world first in the way it addressed the dunder-disposal problem, and it has helped solve the trade waste-disposal problem associated with all molasses distilleries.
If such a discovery can revolutionise the way our distilleries operate, it would be beneficial to both manufacturers and the environment, and Jamaica would be the winner.
MARK CLARKE
Siloah PO, St Elizabeth