Changes in Olive Mill Waste Water Management in Turkey

Abstract

AbstractOlive is a fruit that cannot be consumed raw. Therefore, it has to be processed and one of these technologies is the olive oil processing technology. Different technologies are used when processing olive oil into oil. Whatever technology is used (classical or modern: 2 phase-3 phase etc.), Olive Mill Waste Water (OMWW) is revealed. According to some people, OMWW is waste, and according to others, it is not waste. The reason for this is that when OMWW is released directly to nature (soil, stream, sea, etc.), it pollutes the environment due to the organic components it contains. OMWW appears in all technologies/systems used in olive oil production. While health authorities in the world describe olive oil as a very valuable reward given to human beings, environmental authorities claim that nature is polluted due to OMWW that occurs while processing olives into oil. This dilemma is evaluated from the same point of view in Turkey, which is known as the homeland of olives, as in the world. Because Turkey is an important olive oil and table olive producer, ranking fourth among the world olive producers which has 8% of the total amount of olives and 9% of olive oil production in the world. In Turkey, approximately 180 thousand tons of olive oil is produced each year. For this reason, in this section, the problems with OMWW in Turkey and the solution possibilities of these problems are investigated. As a result of this research, it has been observed that there is a very serious change in Turkey. In recent years, it has been understood that olive oil factories prefer ecological processing systems and pollute the environment less. Because, on the one hand, the enterprises that could not make the necessary investments for waste management before are supported by the state, on the other hand, plants used only as fuel (Olive Pomace + OMWW) are now used as fertilizer, feed for cattle and cosmetics.KeywordsOMWWOlive oilDilemmaChangesTurkey