The sponsor has presented plans to address these impacts to ensure that the proposed project will, upon implementation of the specific measures agreed upon, comply with applicable host country laws and regulations and World Bank/IFC requirements. The information about how these potential impacts will be addressed by the sponsor/project is summarized in the paragraphs that follow:
The Process
Soy milk production is a simple, low technology process, where quality control and hygiene are paramount. Soy beans are soaked, ground and the soluble protein is flushed out with water, becoming raw soymilk. This raw soymilk is cooked, aerated, mixed with sugar, homogenized, cooled, Ultra High Temperature (UHT) treated and packaged.
Site Selection and Prior Land Use
The existing premises occupy approximately 170m2 and are not suitable for expansion. A new site would therefore need to be identified (i.e., this will be a greenfield project). The sponsor has reviewed several potential sites but has not made a final selection to date. Once IFC is notified of the favored site, details regarding site setting and current use will be sought.
Hagar does not anticipate any involuntary resettlement issues since all sites under evaluation are existing, available, manufacturing facilities with prior manufacturing tenants. IFC will also verify this issue and if necessary, ensure that an appropriate Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) is drawn up and implemented. If any involuntary resettlement is required, this ERS will also be updated and re-posted to this website.
Water Availability and Abstraction
Current operations require approximately 2m3 (2,000 litres) per day. A tenfold expansion could therefore increase water consumption to 20m3 per day. Although, efficiencies in process and cleaning are likely to reduce this figure and therefore the water in the product: wastewater ratio). The water source will be dependant on the choice of site, but it is likely to be city water supply. The adequacy of supply will therefore be an important consideration in site selection and IFC will verify that the water supply is sustainable and not adversely affecting third party users. Water (from whatever source) will be treated before use in production.
Wastewater Treatment and Discharge
The main source of wastewater will be water discharged from the production equipment cleaning processes. Two Clean In Place (CIP) automated systems will be used to clean the production equipment. The CIP systems are designed to control and maintain proper cleaning specifications while minimizing water and chemical usage.
Wastewater is discharged into the Phnom Penh Municipality sewer system located below the main street. This system is directed to a municipality treatment plant located south of the city.
The plant design specifications will ensure compliance with IFC effluent guideline requirements.
Solid Waste Management
The main form of solid waste is the fibrous soya bean residual (Okara) discharged from the grinding and filtering process. This material is sold for US$25 per ton as animal feed. Due to the increase in weight after soaking in water, approximately 1.5kg of Okara is created from every kg of dry soya bean.
Health, Safety and Hygiene Considerations
A visit to the existing premises indicates that current management are aware of the importance of good housekeeping, as the manufacturing is clean, safe and well maintained. Due to the proposed tenfold expansion in production, however, health, safety and hygiene requirements need to be formalized as part of the overall quality control system for the product. The formalization includes both investment (e.g. for an in-house quality control laboratory) and procedural aspects (e.g. increasing worker awareness of product contamination risks and encouragement of safe working practices). The development and implementation of a formal quality control system, which addresses these issues will be one of IFC''s project performance indicators during supervision.
Once detailed specifications have been prepared for the new manufacturing operation, IFC will require that a fire safety consultant review and approve them. The fire safety consultant will prepare a Master Plan to ensure (i) appropriate systems were installed during implementation, (ii) staff were trained in emergency procedures and operation of fire suppression equipment, and (iii) periodic inspections and maintenance are carried out.
