BI Announces Water Conservation at 10 Million Gallons Per Year
RANCHO DOMINGUEZ, CALIFORNIA – BI Nutraceuticals, a global full service manufacturer and supplier of plant-based ingredients in the United States, announced a water savings milestone for its botanical milling facility in Reno, Nevada. The company reports conservation of 10 million gallons of water a year since the opening of its 150,000 square foot facility in 2015.
Upon strategizing a move for its botanical milling, BI recognized the scarcity of water in its chosen desert location. Water plays a significant role in the manufacturing of botanicals. As a result, the Operations team became deeply entrenched in the development of an innovative water conservation system. “Establishing our new facility presented unique challenges for our team,” said Justin Scarberry, BI’s Operations Manager. “With water access and usage rights being restricted, we had to re-engineer many of our production processes. Because of the new processes, we’ve been able to save over 10 million gallons of water per year; enough to supply 384 homes annually in the rapidly expanding Reno/Sparks Metropolitan area.”
In searching for an innovative approach for water conservation, BI’s turned their attention to the sterilization process. BI’s Protexx HP® Green Steam™ system utilizes a steam process to quickly kill the microorganisms in ingredients requiring very little water. After applying steam, the ingredient must be cooled to maintain its integrity. As an additional measure to conserve water, BI implemented a protocol, which quickly cools down the ingredient after the heat application. Instead of releasing the water after use, it’s recycled. The heating and cooling processes combined have made a remarkable difference in the method and quality of water usage for BI.
BI’s commitment to the preservation of the environment extends beyond water conservation, starting at the sowing of seed, sustainable cultivation processes, wild crafting, and harvesting through production. Conservation has been a top priority for BI’s business. Among its other quality measures, BI’s stewardship of natural resources is truly what sets it apart from the industry.
For more information on BI or any of its other quality measures, please visit botanicals.com.
About BI Nutraceuticals
BI is a global full-service supplier of dietary supplement and functional food ingredients including plant-based powders and teas, standardized and ratio extracts, proteins, fibers, vitamin mineral premixes, custom blends, granular ingredients and other specialty processes. BI offers more than 200 ingredients that have been determined as safe for use in foods and beverages by the FDA or FEMA, the Flavors and Extracts Manufacturers Association. In 2002, BI pioneered a steam sterilization process, known as Protexx HP® Green Steam™, which is the industry’s only species-specific, organic sterilization method with a validated kill step. All BI ingredients undergo stringent quality analysis that includes heavy metals, pesticides, irradiation, and Identilok®, BI’s species identification process. The company has also developed a proprietary process, UltraHD®, which creates high-density herbal powders allowing for superior flow and less dusting during the manufacturing process. For more information, visit www.botanicals.com.