Value adding with ethanol: from farm to family home
With manufacturing sites in capital cities across Australia, Recochem has long enjoyed a reliable local supply of high-quality, home-grown ethanol to produce the solvents, cleaners and sanitisers used every day in homes and industries.
For almost two decades, Australian family-owned international agribusiness Manildra Group has provided premium industrial-grade ethanol for Recochem to manufacture a wide range of consumer products – including the exclusive Diggers brand of methylated spirits and multi- purpose surface cleaners – sold nationally in major retailers including Woolworths, Coles, Bunnings and Mitre 10.
Recochem’s industrial products are also used in many industries, including pathology, personal care, health and pharmaceuticals, wine (temperature transfer fluid), printing, paint and coatings.
But a reliable and versatile household staple is Recochem’s top ethanol-based product, at millions of litres annually. “Diggers Methylated Spirits is the number one ethanol-based product we are selling, with nearly every household stocking a Diggers product in their kitchen, laundry or shed,” said Tim Scheiwe, Recochem’s Asia Pacific Industrial Chemicals Product Manager.
Manildra Head of Ethanol Products and Sales, Debbie Forster, said the purity of the truly neutral and odourless industrial-grade ethanol provided a premium ‘blank canvas’ base from which Recochem created household staples such as solvents, cleaners and sanitisers.
“Whether you’re cleaning your kitchen or bathroom – removing stains, disinfecting floors, or thinning paints – it’s highly likely you’re using a Recochem product containing our value-adding Australian- made ethanol,” said Mrs Forster.
Manildra has become Australia’s leading producer of ethanol – including a range of grades for food and beverage, pharmaceutical and personal care, industrial applications and fuel – as part of an ongoing program of investment in value-adding innovation, for the sustainability of Australia’s agricultural and manufacturing industries and communities.
Since 1992, ethanol has been produced at Manildra’s world-class, fully integrated Shoalhaven Starches manufacturing plant in Nowra, NSW. State-of-the-art technology utilises 100 per cent of the grain to extract premium by-products, and wheat fermentation experts methodically test the ethanol to ensure Manildra’s quality standards (the most stringent in the industry) meet international certifications.
Manildra’s industrial-grade ethanol is transported to Recochem’s Brisbane and Adelaide manufacturing sites to add further value to raw materials creating the products for industrial and consumer sectors.
Mr Scheiwe said the sustainable production of ethanol from renewable sources made Manildra a key partner for Recochem, which has grown to include successful industrial, consumer and liquid automotive divisions – with manufacturing sites in Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane and Sydney – since the company’s expansion into the Australian market in 1975.
“It’s vital that we support Australian-grown and made products, which guarantee us a secure local supply of high-quality raw materials for our production,” he said.
“Manildra ensures Recochem can access ethanol with short lead times, quick delivery, and the bonus of local technical and support teams to assist, if needed.”
Mr Scheiwe said the future for Manildra and Recochem would involve increased collaboration on retail market product innovations and greater breadth of supply into industrial markets.
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