Beirut, 20 January 2023 – Under the patronage of Mr. Georges Bouchikian, Minister of Industry, with the presence of Mr. Emmanuel Kalenzi, UNIDO Regional Representative, Mrs. Alessia Squarcella, Deputy Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon and Mr. Michel Sayyah, Board Member of the Association of the Lebanese Industrialists, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) disseminated, on January 17, the findings of activities conducted by the Lebanon SwitchMed MedTEST II project that aimed at transforming whey, the troublesome liquid effluent of dairy companies, into innovative food and beverage products that are nutritious, healthy, cost effective and easy to manufacture by dairy companies particularly the SMEs.
The products that have been developed in close cooperation with two demonstration dairy companies ranged from whey-based spreadable cheese, Ayran and juice. They open the door to dairy and juice companies to benefit from the nutritional qualities of the whey resulting from Labneh and double crème cheese manufacturing, instead of losing this valuable by-product, in waste water treatment plants or discarding it in nature without treatment.
The results dissemination seminar was held in a hybrid mode at Zahleh, central Bekaa, and was attended by interested dairy and juice companies from Lebanon and nearby Arab countries like Jordan, Palestine and Egypt as well as by relevant stakeholders from both the public and private sector and from academia.
The event contributes to mainstreaming circular economy, resource efficient and cleaner productions principles in the industrial sector in line with the goals of the Lebanon SwitchMed MED TEST III Project, that is funded by the European Union, co-funded by Italy and Catalonia and implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in partnership with the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Environment and in cooperation with the Association of the Lebanese Industrialists (ALI) and the Association of Northern Metn Industrialists (ANMI).