Polluticn Preventiun and Waste Minhizatian in the Dairy Industry through Novel Uses of Whey Pe-te

Whey is produced during the manufacture of cheese and casein, About 28 billion pounds of liquid whey produced in the U. S. are being durped into nnmicipal sewers, causing serious pollution problems. While whey protein is recovered by ultrafiltration, the renraining whey permeate represents a mjor disposal problem for the dairy industry. The utilization of whey pemreate as a fermentation feedstock for chemical production will generate usable and valuable products while reducing waste pollution problem. However, there is not a single, universal solution in the dairy industry for the whey disposal problems. This is due t o the large variations in quantities and properties of the liquid whey produced at different plants. This paper identifies several potential fermentation products fran whey permeate and discuss consideratiam in selecting a whey fermentation process. Prepared for presentation at the AI- Pollution Prevention Conferenc