Press releases, Story date : Wednesday, November 03 1999

KREPRO becomes reality in Malmö, Sweden

Malmö Water, the municipal potable and wastewater company of the Malmö city, Sweden, has decided to install the KREPRO process for the treatment of sewage sludge. The total investment in Malmö is estimated at EUR 7.3 million (SEK 64 million).

"Malmö will be the first city in the world to utilise this new technique in full scale", says Bengt Andersson, Technical Manager at Malmö Water & Sewage Works. "Malmö has chosen the KREPRO process mainly for two reasons. Firstly it is a long term solution for sludge treatment and secondly it is a regional solution, since sludge from smaller wastewater treatment plants in the area can be recollected and treated in Malmö".

"Although the KREPRO installation will be a big investment, future sludge handling will not become more expensive than today - in fact, it can even become more economic thanks to possible revenues for the products coming out of the process", Bengt Andersson says further.

"We are very pleased that Malmö in particular is the first to choose the KREPRO process, since they have always been very eager to try new solutions and as Malmö also has a high level of technical knowledge in their organisation", says Kjell Stendahl, Executive Vice President of Kemwater. "The deal will strengthen our vision of being the world leader in chemical water treatment. Furthermore, it supports Kemira's new strategic focus, where the water treatment business and recycling are recognised as sectors with strong growth potential".

The KREPRO process

KREPRO, the Kemwater Recycling Process, is a method developed by Kemira Chemicals' business unit Kemwater for the treatment of sludge from waterworks and wastewater treatment plants. By using the KREPRO sludge treatment process it is possible to separate valuable components from wastewater sludge. The main components to be recovered are biofuel, phosphates, coagulants, and carbon source.

Phosphates can be used for agricultural fertilisers and solid organic material with a high combustible value can be used as energy fuel. The liquid part of the organic material, i.e. the carbon source, can be utilised in a nitrogen removal process. Furthermore, the recycling of removed components will remarkably reduce consumption of non-renewable natural resources.

Kemwater is a strategic business unit of Kemira Chemicals Oy, a subsidiary of the Kemira Group. Kemwater is globally the leading producer of coagulants for water treatment and operates in nearly 30 countries.

In addition to municipal and industrial water treatment plants, Kemira Chemicals' other customer groups are pulp and paper industry and other industries. Net sales in 1998 were about EUR 630 million. The company has production in 27 countries.