Image: Simplot Australia
One of the North-West Coast’s major food processing factories will undergo a $1.5 million upgrade to improve its environmental impact.
The Simplot factory at Ulverstone employs around 350 people and produces almost 180,000 tonnes a year of potato product, including chips, hash browns and potato gems, with one of the by-products being potato particulates released into the atmosphere.
This has produced a fried potato odour, which can be smelled in parts of Ulverstone, depending on the wind direction.
The company has lodged a development application with the Central Coast Council, which is says will reduce the amount of particulate released by up to 80 per cent, consequently with less odour.
Simplot says the upgrades are in response to complaints from nearby residents and its main purpose it to improve exhaust discharge.
The new system will use mostly recycled water and captured oil and particulates will be treated on site.
