FDBusiness.com

Nordic meat group HKScan has celebrated the topping-out ceremony of its new poultry plant in the Lakari industrial precinct of Rauma in Finland. Construction was launched last year and is proceeding on schedule. The plant will be completed in spring and equipment installation is already under way. Production trials will commence in summer and the goal is to bring the entire project to its conclusion by the end of Finland’s centenary year, 2017.

The new plant will specialize in the growing poultry segment and chicken products. The state-of the-art equipment that will be installed at the plant will enable HKScan to develop innovative Kariniemen® novelties for the group’s home and expert markets.

The modern processes at the plant meet all the latest requirements, which will mean a significant improvement in occupational health and safety for personnel. The work environment has been carefully designed with input from HKScan’s personnel as well as experts from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, who contributed to planning the work practices that will be adopted at the plant. A special effort will be made to prevent exposure to cold conditions through draft control, special protective clothing and special task/workspace planning. Each workstation will be designed for optimized ergonomic comfort.

All new acquisitions at the plant have been procured in line with HKScan’s Responsibility Programme, with special attention to the material, energy and environmental efficiency of all new equipment. Energy efficiency has been a particularly high priority on the environmental agenda. The new plant will be equipped with special solutions such as a heat recovery system. Environmental safety has also been prioritized in the design of sewage and wastewater treatment systems and refrigerant cycles as well as noise level.

In all respects, special care has been taken to minimize the plant’s total emissions through the use of optimized technology and energy-efficient production lines. The heating system will primarily be based on district heating that is 90%-produced from renewable biofuels, supplemented by the plant’s own efficient heat recovery system.

“We have also made allowances for further improving the plant’s efficiency in the future. For example we plan to increase our energy efficiency by installing more effective systems for heat recovery from flue gases and wastewater treatment systems and by increasing our level of energy self-sufficiency,” explains Aki Laiho, chief operating officer at HKScan.

The new plant is among the most ambitious production investments in HKScan’s history, guaranteeing the long-term survival of food industry jobs in western Finland. The investment is valued at over Eur80 million.