AREA IV. Viticulture and the Environment
Project 15:

Treatment of the Wine industry’s Liquid Industrial Residues (RILES)

National standard environmental regulations, along with the growing international pressure for environmentally-sustainable products have turned the treatment and disposal of Liquid Industrial Residues (RILES) into a priority issue for the Chilean wine industry.  Although the domestic market offers solutions, some of which have already been implemented, there are still no systematic and objective evaluations of the cost-effectiveness of such options.  

The objective of this project is that of generating knowledge and technology so that the wine industry can adopt cost-effective solutions for the management of the Liquid Industrial Residues it generates, considering the three key characteristics of such industry which are: seasonality, diversity of sources and qualities and high organic load.

The project intends to: (i) evaluate the quality of the Liquid Industrial Residues of the industry in relation to the possible treatment options and their operating alternatives; (ii) characterize the solutions offered by the national market, field results and world state-of-the-art wine RILES treatment.  (iii) identify cost-effective best practices, treatment and disposal technologies in relation to national environmental regulations and to the characteristics of the RILES generated (iv) offer a tool to evaluate the performance of wine RILES treatment processes; and (v) evaluate a solution specially adapted to the characteristics of the wine industry’s Liquid Industrial Residues.

Project Length: 2 years