Snack foods often call for a drink with them, but the manufacturing of these foods also calls for large volumes of water to be used in the washing of raw materials as well as other stages of production. One Ontario-based snack food manufacturer examined its use of this resource to minimize the impact of this water use on the environment, as well as decreasing the impact of water costs on the company's bottom line.

The Humpty Dumpty Snack Foods Inc. facility in Brampton, Ontario, participated in an audit of its processes. The results revealed that the company could recycle some water, while recovering starch from waste water streams. Both measures promised to yield significant savings, which were confirmed by a subsequent feasibility study of specific recycling and recovery strategies.

In fact, a series of changes that were implemented have saved the firm more than $500,000 a year. More than half of that total comes from a reduction in the volume of waste water that is being sent to sanitary sewers, while the recycled water and recovered water together represent some $200,000. In addition, the plant's energy costs have been reduced by some 10 per cent, with another $40,000 in savings. Finally, from a purely environmental perspective, Humpty Dumpty has cut its greenhouse gas emissions in Brampton by 450 tonnes per year.

For the company, this outcome demonstrates how processes that benefit the environment can also be profitable. Besides abiding by a corporate mandate of continuous improvement and innovation in its activities, Humpty Dumpty's accomplishment has provided a valuable case study for the Ontario Centre for Environmental Technology Advancement (OCETA).

This provincial agency provides support services to participating companies, as well as facilitating access to “best fit” engineering consultants to conduct the energy audits. OCETA manages Ontario's Energy Efficiency and Innovation program on behalf of the National Research Council's Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) and Natural Resources Canada's Office of Energy Efficiency.

The National Research Council, Canada's foremost research and development agency, established IRAP several decades ago. The program works closely with small and medium-sized enterprises, helping them grow their businesses, increase their competitiveness, and enhance their impact in the marketplace.

The Energy Efficiency and Innovation program supports customized engineering assessments to identify energy efficiency opportunities within a manufacturing process. These audits focus on specific areas of a plant's energy system, including natural gas boilers, steam distribution, refrigeration, compressed air, and water and wastewater discharge issues.

Collected by experienced process engineering consulting firms, this information serves as baseline data to evaluate other parts of an industrial operation. Evaluations submitted by these consultants take the form of an action-oriented report, describing opportunities for enhancing efficiency and providing a good rate of return on an investment in process.

Humpty Dumpty's achievement also made the company a regional finalist for a 2002 Regional Innovation Award for Sustainable Development, an honour presented jointly by the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters and the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP).

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