Guidelines for the implementation of the 3-barrier system

Minimise water consumption at source and prevent and reduce pollution from discharges through actions and improvement measures throughout the production processes.

The “3 Barriers System” is based on a sequential system of actions aimed at minimising water consumption at source and preventing and reducing pollution from discharges through actions and improvement measures throughout the production processes.

The purpose of this guide is to provide information on the methodological and operational system known as the ‘3-barrier system’, which minimises water consumption at source in the food industry and prevents pollution from discharges at source through actions and improvement measures to increase production efficiency throughout the production.

Although the work methodology described is designed to be applied in all food sectors (AZTI has carried out more than sixty implementations of the three-barrier system in different food sectors), this guide is focused on the canned fish sector, and therefore provides information, tools and resources necessary for companies in this sector to optimise and implement measures aimed at reducing emissions at source.
For this reason, it details the processes that use the most water and generate the most discharges, provides examples of minimisation measures and provides indicators to be maintained to help control and carry out periodic monitoring to guarantee an improvement in the indicators.

The information in this guide can be used to help build an efficiency improvement action plan, assess environmental performance, prioritise actions and set short, medium and long-term targets.

Benefits of the implementation of the 3-barrier system:

• Aumento de la sostenibilidad a largo plazo de la actividad
• Reduction of water consumption
• Reduction of raw material, intermediate product and final product losses
• Increased productivity and improved use of natural resources
• Reduction of production costs
• Reducing the volume of waste and its pollutant load before treatment
• Reduction of costs associated with the treatment and management of effluents and wastes
• Compliance with emission limit values of your discharges
• Increased long-term sustainability of the activity