EOC Group switches to sustainable process- and demineralized water through Ekopak

EOC Group is a global producer of adhesives, specialty binders, coatings, and surfactants for a variety of applications and industries. The company has 13 production and distribution units worldwide and employs more than 700 people.

During the production process, EOC Group requires an enormous amount of water. In 2010, it already switched from city water to groundwater for this purpose. In 2021, there was a need to renew and expand the capacity of the installation. EOC called on Ekopak to make the production process at the Oudenaarde site more sustainable.

Switch to demineralized & process water

EOC Group has a water consumption of more than 100,000 m³/year. With the Ekopak installation, EOC was able to switch to centrally softened process water instead of working with individual softeners. The process water is used for cooling, cleaning the process installations and sanitary purposes.  In addition, the demin water is used for water-based end products, steam production, and inside the laboratory.

Ekopak’s plant is fuelled by groundwater that is then de-ironed. Through nanofiltration and reverse osmosis, the groundwater is converted to process and demin water. Ekopak is responsible for the complete monitoring of the installation and maintenance, EOC Group is thus completely relieved.

“Ekopak listens to our needs and uses them creatively to find a sustainable solution. The cooperation goes extremely smoothly. Ekopak is a flexible company, both during and after the project minor adjustments could still be made to the installation.” – Mathias Lantsoght, Assistant Plant Manager

Thanks to the switch to a centralized water supply and softening via membrane technology, the water consumption for cooling could be reduced by 25%. This also eliminated the need for salt for the softeners. This means a reduction of 50T/year of chlorides in the wastewater.

By reusing concentrate streams, the overall efficiency of the plant could be increased to 80%.