Wine Australia is committed to helping wineries to reduce waste and improve resource efficiency. This section features resources that have been developed to improve wastewater management, refrigeration efficiency and operational activities.
Lean production
Lean production is a way to identify and help to eliminate hidden, non-essential activities and production steps. It can be used to address a diverse range of practical problems around winery processes and procedures.
Lean production is used to sharpen the focus of wineries to help rethink production, reduce high operating costs and simplify day-to-day tasks. It is designed to improve a business’s bottom line, but it is not just a cost-cutting exercise; it is a new way of thinking about existing operations.
Once implemented, Lean production can allow better decision-making to reduce expenditure, increase profitability and create a happier workplace. This short video helps explain Lean Production in wineries.
This section contains the Wine Australia-funded The Lean Guide – a primer on lean production for the Australian wine industry and resources for our Lean Production for Wineries workshop.
Winery refrigeration efficiency
Electricity is a significant operating cost for wineries. With refrigeration accounting for as much as 50 to 70 per cent of winery electricity consumption, there is considerable interest in decreasing refrigeration-related electricity use.
Wine Australia funded a project at the Australian Wine Research Institute to investigate how Australian wineries can improve refrigeration efficiency.
Improving Winery Refrigeration Efficiency – Reference Guide includes an overview of winery refrigeration and improvement opportunities. There are also detailed case studies performed at wineries and these reports cover a range of topics including cooling system operations, plant shut downs, storage temperatures and night time cooling.
Winery wastewater management and recycling
Activities in the winery, wastewater treatment plant and vineyards are interlinked – what happens in one will affect the others. Cost-effective operations require an integrated approach involving:
- Wineries – cleaner production to improve profit and reduce treatment requirements
- Wastewater treatment plants – ‘fit for purpose’ treatment to contain costs and optimise recycling
- Vineyards – recycling treated water as a secure irrigation supply and to reduce environmental risks.
Wine Australia commissioned projects to develop, synthesise and share knowledge about better wastewater management, water reuse and recycling. Our winery wastewater resources provide information on winery wastewater treatment, recycling the treated water in vineyards, using other sources of recycled water and other forms of discharge.
Wine Australia’s Winery Wastewater kit is designed to provide Australian wineries and viticulturists with a guide to world’s best practice in sustainable management and includes information products, key principles, business fundamentals and operational guidelines.