First Milk tanker

First Milk installed the new whey equipment in January

First Milk has installed whey processing equipment at its Campbeltown cheese factory to help it cut down on food waste and boost its production of high-value whey protein concentrate.

The equipment went into Campbeltown in January and will increase the amount of WPC80 whey protein First Milk can produce by 5%.

It would allow Campbeltown to process whey as an ingredient for the food chain for the first time in 2014, “where previously it could only be handled as a waste product,” First Milk said in its annual sustainability review this week.

First Milk already produces WPC80 - widely used in sports nutrition - at its Lake District Creamery in a joint venture with NZ milk giant Fonterra.

First Milk also said in its review it was expanding its Milk From Forage programme - which encourages dairy farmers to make greater use of locally grown forage instead of relying on imported feed - from 40 to 100 farmers this spring.

Participating farmers had typically had to purchase 890kg less feed per cow a year, and seen their margins improve by an average of 1.46ppl, First Milk said.

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