{"id":225337,"date":"2018-12-13T23:43:25","date_gmt":"2018-12-13T13:43:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=225337"},"modified":"2020-07-25T12:49:44","modified_gmt":"2020-07-25T02:49:44","slug":"teys-murgon-beefs-up-production","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/12\/13\/teys-murgon-beefs-up-production\/","title":{"rendered":"Teys Murgon Beefs Up Production"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Teys Murgon general manager Scott Kapernick with Member for Wide Bay Llew O’Brien<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

December 14, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Teys Australia cattle hide processing plant at Murgon plans to lift production by 20 per cent recent – and hire a dozen more staff – over the next two years.<\/p>\n

A $567,406 expansion at the facility was officially opened by Member for Wide Bay Llew O’Brien on Thursday morning.<\/p>\n

The project – to create a sixth “raceway” processing tank and an overhead hide delivery system – was jointly funded by the Federal Government’s Regional Jobs and Investment Package ($267,406) and Teys Australia Murgon Pty Ltd ($300,000).<\/p>\n

The raceway is a 100,000 litre brine tank that hides pass through as part of the curing process.<\/p>\n

The “Raceway 6” project also provided a boost for Bryan Zelinski Engineering in Murgon, which did all the fabrication work in their workshop.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The massive tank was then transported to the Teys factory by low-loader and lifted into place by two mobile cranes.<\/p>\n

More than 13 local tradespeople were engaged to complete the project.<\/p>\n

The raceway, which weighs about 140 tonnes at full saturation,\u00a0sits at the end of a row of five other raceway tanks that can now process about 16,000 hides a week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis expansion will increase production and create more employment opportunities, providing a welcome boost to the local economy,\u201d Mr O\u2019Brien said.<\/p>\n

Last financial year, the Murgon plant processed 710,000 hides, which arrive chilled from Teys’ abattoirs at Rockhampton, Biloela and Beenleigh.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Ten per cent of all cattle slaughtered in Australia come through this plant,” Teys Murgon general manager Scott Kapernick said.<\/p>\n

The hides end up as the finest leather upholstery in many European prestige vehicles.<\/p>\n

The Murgon plant was originally opened by Burnett Valley Ltd in October 1991 as a wet blue tannery.<\/p>\n

Teys bought the facility in 2005 and since then the plant has undergone major efficiency upgrades to lessen its environmental footprint.<\/p>\n

Hides now leave the plant as brine cured, packed into containers for export.<\/p>\n

These days, only one skip of rubbish leaves the plant every week, and a\u00a0closed loop water system recovers five litres of water from every hide that arrives at the plant.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“We make 180,000 litres of clean water every week,” Scott said.<\/p>\n

“We lose more water now through evaporation than we bring into the plant.”<\/p>\n

The salt used in the brine process is also recycled – about 70 tonnes a week – following the installation of a $1.6 million salt recovery system in 2013.<\/p>\n

The latest expansion will also have flow-on benefits for Murgon on top of the extra jobs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A 20 per cent increase in capacity means 20 per cent more wooden pallets, which Teys source from The Gumnut Place.<\/p>\n

Teys Australia Group Environmental Manager\u00a0Amelia Simony said the project was just another way that Teys continued to invest in Australian agribusiness.<\/p>\n

“The project follows innovation and environmental focus at the site, having recently been recognised as \u2018best-in-class\u2019 hides processing in Australia for the closed loop water treatment system and significant waste reduction,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Teys have recently made a commitment to support sustainable beef processing by reducing our carbon intensity by 20 per cent and our water intensity by 10 per cent by 2023.<\/p>\n

“We also support the red meat industry achieving carbon neutrality by 2030.”<\/p>\n

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Teys Murgon general manager Scott Kapernick with the new Raceway 6 tank<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A new overhead chain system was also installed to deliver the hides to the brine tanks<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Hides “race” around and around the new brine tank<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The finished product … brine cured hides ready to be packed into containers for export<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Teys are very proud of their closed loop water recycling system …<\/strong><\/p>\n