In a bid to reduce the consumption of water in the Danish food industry by up to 30 percent, 14 companies and five research institutions have joined forces to develop the required technology over the next five years.
The innovation fund Innovationsfonden – run by the Education and Research Ministry – will invest 50 million kroner into the technology development, while 19 companies and institutions will follow suit as part of the new co-operation.
”The public investment in innovation must be more geared to a desire to solve specific challenges,” Sofie Carsten Nielsen, the education and research minister, said.
”The new joint partnership is a good example of how central players can come together about how to solve the issue of the food product industry consuming large amounts of water.”
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Water resources critical
The new water-saving technologies and solutions are to be developed and tested at 20 to 25 specific Danish food product companies. The ambition hinges on consuming less groundwater and more cleaned recycled water.
The new joint partnership – dubbed INNO+VIP – will run from 2015-2020 with the ambition of reducing water consumption by 15-30 percent by 2020.
According to the UN, global water consumption is expected to rise by 30 percent by 2030 and the world's water supplies will be under great pressure by then.
