After developing eco-designed production sites and sustainable supply chains in Africa, Olvea has developed its own eco-refining plant directly on its site in Normandy. Thanks to its supply chains in Africa (of Argan and Shea in particular) and to its own green refinery, Olvea can now provide bio-sourced and eco-refined vegetable oils with a complete traceability. These oils can be used in many formulations.
Equipped with two refining lines with a daily capacity of 100 tonnes, Olvea Green Technologies is one of the first green and eco-designed refineries in Europe. Due to the equipment and the process of this plant oils can be purified without cross-contamination. The tank farm and the eco-refinery meet the Food Defense requirements.
Olvea Green Technologies represents more than 40 people on site, 93 tanks and 10,000 tons of storage, as well as a refining capacity of more than 30,000 tons per year. This refinery will allow Olvea to be more reactive but also to anchor its commitment to sustainable development, reducing its logistics flow and its carbon footprint. The integration of the refining step in its production process allows Olvea a total control of its production, but also a reduction of its carbon footprint.
The company’s eco-refined high-quality vegetable oils have a reduced ecological footprint as the building and the refining process were specifically designed for a particularly low environmental impact. The building of an old factory has been completely rehabilitated; the demolition materials were recycled and revalorised.
The 9,000m² of building has 1,300m² of photovoltaic panels installed on the roof. This covers 50% of the needs of a refining line. The rest of the energy supply of the plant is purchased from green sources of gas and electricity. Olvea has also launched scientific partnerships with local universities, and has created a research and development laboratory. The green plant is equipped with numerous heat exchangers to recover and interchange heat energy at different stages of the process. 3 rainwater storage tanks, with a storage capacity of 1 million liters, have been installed to recover up to 12 million litres per year.
The Olvea Group is a supplier of vegetable and fish oils, intended for the cosmetic, pharmaceutical, food and feed industries. Having been located in Normandy for 90 years, it has continued to expand around the world. It now has 12 subsidiaries and 250 employees worldwide, with a turnover of more than 100 million euros. The company has 2.000 customers in 90 countries, is a signatory of the UN Global Compact and is EFfCI certified.
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