Gelnex Opens New, Sustainable Facility

ITA, BrazilGelnex started production at its third facility, located in Araguaina, Brazil; the new plant will produce bovine gelatin and was designed to optimize sustainability in production and enhanced supply chain traceability. The new plant is situated close to its raw material sources, helping to reduce transportation costs and aid in traceability. Further, the company has in place in its local supply chain strict raw material inspection, acquisition, shipping and packaging standards to emphasize safety.

Filipe Chaluppe, vice president, sales and marketing, Gelnex, noted the company has always held as key tenets the issues of environmental stewardship and energy conservation. We have had, as a stated objective, to assure our companys sustainability, both environmentally and economically, he said. All three of our plants take advantage of location and advanced technology to reduce energy demands, enhance water conservation and use renewable resources.

The company put its lessons to work in planning the Araguaina plant, which uses solar photovoltaic systems and solar water heating to take advantage of the abundant solar energy in the subtropical region. Further, the plant has wastewater recycling in place, and uses renewable biomass fuels, generating electricity using diesel engines converted to be fueled by pork fat, a by-product of the gelatin production process. In recognition of these efforts, Gelnex was awarded Silver Certification through the Brazilian GHG (GreenHouse Gas) Protocol Program, which is compatible with ISO and International Panel on Climate Change standards.

Chaluppe noted, This plant means we can deliver the highest levels of quality, efficiency, food safety and consistent product performance, batch-to-batch. It also enables Gelnex to become an even more integral part of our customers sustainability, quality and traceability initiatives.