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Analyses of environmental aspects and monitoring of industrial wastewater treatment processes in Israeli broiler slaughterhouses using life-cycle assessment )LCA(
Elizabeta Sandlersky; Elizabetas@sviva.gov.il
Prof. Dorith Tavor
SCE - Shamoon College of Engineering, Be’er-Sheva
Slaughterhouses are industrial facilities for meat processing. In such facilities, animals designated for consumption are slaughtered, cleaned, and cut into parts before packaging and marketing to consumers. The slaughtering process generates significant amounts of industrial wastewater that must be separated into three distinct streams: “non-saline/industrial;” “blood/waste;” and “brine.” In European and U.S. slaughterhouses, there is no regulatory requirement for salting poultry meat, as there is in the koshering process, thus, there is no brine stream requiring treatment.
According to Israeli regulations, untreated industrial wastewater may not be discharged into public sewage systems, evaporation ponds, or the sea. Therefore, prior to releasing industrial effluents to their endpoints, treatment is necessary to reduce or prevent water and soil contamination. The treatment of slaughterhouse wastewaters involves multiple stages and is determined by an evaluation of each facility’s processes, emissions, and resultant waste streams.
The current research is the first of its kind in Israel and applies life-cycle assessment )LCA( methodology to the evaluation of the environmental impacts of various wastewater treatment systems in slaughterhouses. This research examined the environmental impacts of the wastewater treatment systems at two slaughterhouses located in southern Israel to assess their environmental effects on four key categories: global warming—measuring greenhouse gas emissions; marine eutrophication— monitoring the impact on aquatic systems; fossil resources—assessing resource consumption; and water usage—evaluating water resource requirements.
This research compares the treatment processes used in the slaughterhouses “Western Negev” and “Segev Shalom,” based on data collected in 2023. Additionally, it examined a renewable energy usage scenario for powering wastewater treatment systems, demonstrating the potential for significant reductions in environmental impacts, particularly in the categories of greenhouse gas emissions and resource depletion.
This research highlights the importance of using advanced scientific methods to assess the environmental impacts of industrial wastewater treatment in Israeli slaughterhouses. The application of the life-cycle assessment )LCA( approach provides a better understanding of the environmental
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