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Coffee
With a Green Thumb And A Big Heart
Costa
Rica is a land of abundant and diverse natural resources. The measures the
country has taken to set aside one third of its territory for protected zones
and national parks have not been in vain. In this land of men and women who
understand the importance of preserving nature, coffee planting and
industrialization have been carried out in accordance with the values of the
people, using clean production systems.
A
commitment to "green" concerns
It
used to be that coffee production caused serious pollution of rivers, but now
all producers are committed to cleaning up the waterways and properly
disposing of the solid waste created by coffee-processing
operations.
In
August 1992, the Costa Rican Coffee Institute (ICAFE), acting on behalf of the
coffee processors, the Ministry of Health, the Costa Rican Water and Sewage
Institute (Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados - A y A),
and the National Electric Power Service (Servicio Nacional de Electricidad,
currently ARESEP) signed the Inter-institutional Agreement on Waste Water
Treatment and Solid Waste Management in Coffee Processing.
The
waste produced as a result of coffee-processing operations (water used in
pulping, flushing the residue and discarding pulp) was tested in order to
develop ecologically acceptable solutions. The goal was to achieve an 80%
reduction in the level of pollution caused by this agroindustry over a
six-year period.
The
new practices, which are now obligatory, entailed making major changes in
processing operations, e.g., using less water, straining or filtering solid
pulp waste and sedimentation of smaller materials in special tanks. Finally,
mucilage waste, which is water-soluble, is broken down in secondary
water-treatment systems, mainly by using anaerobic reagents or anaerobic
containers (which work without oxygen, using bacteria that feed on the organic
waste).
The
Inter-institutional Agreement stipulates that water cannot be emptied into the
river until its pollution levels have been reduced by this treatment process.
Successes
of the
Agreement
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Over
an eight-year period, the coffee sector has invested over $100 million
(without financing) in the Environmental Management Program.
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Dry
pulping and waterless transport of pulp prevents 50% of pollutants from
being emptied into rivers.
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Primary
treatment (straining and sedimentation) reduces COD (chemical oxygen
demand) by 30%.
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Savings
in water use amounted to 90%, and even more in some processing plants.
Eco-friendly
coffee
At
first only a few coffee growers were concerned about protecting the
environment, but as Costa Ricans became more aware of ecological issues, and
being a people who strongly believe that they have a duty to care for the
planet, more and more coffee producers and processors joined forces to ensure
that coffee production does not damage the environment.
Throughout
the country, where thousands of small-scale farmers earn their livelihood by
planting coffee, many growers now use strictly organic production methods,
eliminating all chemicals, pesticides and artificial fertilizers from their
fields.
Converting
to green technology
It
is neither easy nor cheap to be a friend of nature, but it is necessary. Thus,
in its uncompromising commitment to the country's environmental philosophy and
its own objective of generating the greatest possible benefits, the Costa
Rican coffee industry has spent $100 million on wastewater clean-up and
treatment of coffee-processing waste since 1992.
Without
exception all the country's coffee processing plants comply with environmental
legislation through their adherence to the first agreement on
inter-institutional cooperation, whereby all processing plants undertake to
safeguard the country's ecosystems.
The
plants also have wastewater treatment systems and have helped reduce the
amount of water required for coffee processing by 75%. This reduction has been
possible thanks to the use of a technique whereby the coffee beans are first
taken to a dry processing station. In addition, special pulp-removal and
pulp-disposal methods are used.
The
wastewater from coffee processing is used to produce biogas, a result of the
degradation of sugar and other organic elements contained in the coffee pulp
and mucilage.
The
most important use for biogas is the generation of electric power, consumption
of which has been reduced by one third in the processing plants, thus creating
a cleaner environment.
Additionally,
the coffee pulp and other byproducts are used as fertilizer on the coffee
plantations themselves, as well as for other crops. This has generated
additional profits for the coffee-processing plants, which are able to offer
100-percent natural fertilizers.
The
country's commitment to quality is such that several of its processing plants
have been granted ISO 14000 International Certification for their efforts to
preserve and protect the environment.
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