Local Projects: Cork, Ireland

Established in 1988, Millipore Ireland today manufactures filtration devices and plastic membrane films which are used in a wide range of critical applications requiring precision filtration and purification. Our products sterilize drug solutions, test beverages for purity, filter IV fluids in patient care and are used in hundreds of other applications in industry sectors including medical devices, pharmaceutical and biotechnology. The 178,000 square-foot plant is located on a 38-acre site at Carrigtwohill, County Cork.

In line with the Millipore Focused Factory Initiative, our facility in Cork, Ireland is undergoing major expansion that will lead to an increase in manufacturing capacity and a dramatic increase in both the activity and complexity of the site.

Solvent Recovery

To reduce the potential environmental impact of the expansion at the Cork site, we identified all potential solvent-containing waste streams from the new processes and assessed their potential environmental impacts. Initial calculations showed that the quantity of wastewater generated, in a worst case scenario, could increase by eight-fold. This would lead to additional pressure on abatement equipment as well as the local environment.

Therefore, we worked to ensure that the new solvent recovery unit could recover a wider range of solvents for reuse in the process. To meet these needs, the $3 million system became more sophisticated than originally planned – a three-column unit capable of recovering acetone, methanol, DMAc (dimethyl acetamide), triethylene glycol (TEG) and n-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP). TEG and NMP are currently not recovered at any other Millipore site.

In addition to recovering solvents, this system will minimize wastewater generation. As a result, Millipore will save money on solvent purchases and avoid the costly need to expand its wastewater treatment plant.

For more information about Millipore’s solvent recovery efforts, see Air.

Cleaner Production

‘Prevention is better than cure’ The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Cleaner Greener Production Programme (CGPP) has this idea as its core. The programme, which began in 2001, provides grant aid to organisations to assist them in preventing and minimising their environmental impact

Cleaner greener production aims to reduce consumption of resources and avoid generating pollution in the first place rather than treating or cleaning up afterwards.

Millipore Cork participated in the EPA sponsored CGPP programme between 2005-2007 with a project entitled “Towards Sustainable Production – closing water and solvent cycles at Millipore”. This project was aimed at reducing wastewater discharges from the membrane manufacturing process through recovery of solvent for re-use. Several technologies were investigated and many trials were carried out with varying results which were largely either technically or economically unfeasible.

The approach of the project thus changed direction began to focus prevention at source. Preliminary trials using wipers to remove excess solvent and thus preventing carryover into the wastewater steam proved successful. The projected environmental benefit from this project is a reduction in COD of 73,000Kgs / annum as well as a significant saving on solvent approx 80 tonnes/annum of Methanol. The project is still ongoing.

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