Princes partners with bio-plant to reduce Mauritian tuna processing emissions

Liverpool, U.K.-headquartered food and drink group Princes will look to reduce the carbon-dioxide emissions from its Mauritian tuna-processing sites by 8,650 metric tons (MT) per year through a partnership with new bio-plant venture Energie des Mascareignes (EDM).

With two dedicated production sites, PTM is the largest tuna business in the Indian Ocean. If the project meets its target, it would reduce current operational emissions for Princes Tuna Mauritius’ (PTM) largest manufacturing site by 80 percent.

EDM, a joint waste-to-value venture between U.K.-based Green Create and IBL Energy, will convert all semi-solid waste from PTM sites, alongside effluent water, into biogas via anaerobic digestion. Work on the new bio-plant has started, with completion expected in late 2022.

At PTM’s Riche Terre site, the biogas will power 100 percent of the facility’s steam-cooking requirements, replacing heavy fuel oil. Solid fish-waste at PTM, including tuna heads, offal, skin, and bones are already diverted to a nearby plant of Marine Biotechnology Products (MBP) – a subsidiary of IBL – for fishmeal and oil creation. A further byproduct created through the removal of nitrogen and phosphates in the waste-effluent water from both PTM sites will be extracted for use as a biological fertilizer. At the same time, chemicals such as flocculants, precipitants, and coagulants, as well as cleaning chemicals used in the current waste-treatment system, will be eradicated through the project – amounting to around 80 MT a year.

Princes Group Director for Fish Neil Bohannon said the project is “an incredibly positive step” that will reduce the company’s reliance on heavy fuel and significantly reduce emissions from the firm’s Mauritian operations, while cutting waste through the use of renewable energy.

“We have been repurposing solid waste for decades into fishmeal and oil, and now this agreement with EDM will close the loop on our semi-solid and liquid waste. This is part of a number of changes being implemented across Princes sites to reduce our environmental impact as we work towards carbon neutral operations by 2030,” he said.

Princes said the PTM biogas project will support its 2030GreenGoals initiative, announced in July 2021, which outlines its commitment to become a carbon-neutral business across its United Kingdom and international operations by 2030, against a 2018-2019 baseline.

Since 2014-2015, the group has reduced its carbon emissions by 23 percent, or 34,000 MT of CO2.

By 2030, Princes also aims to increase internal energy generation up to 50 percent, while reducing water waste by 25 percent, general waste by 30 percent, and food waste by 50 percent.

Photo courtesy of Princes