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The PROCAS project in Vietnam explores how waste streams from cassava processing can be transformed into valuable resources instead of becoming a source of water pollution. By recovering proteins and other useful components from cassava juice, the project aims to improve water quality while creating a viable circular business model for the cassava industry.
Facts
- Project type Partners for Water Pilot Project
- Country Vietnam
- Partners Colubris Cleantech · Yenbinh · STAMEX · Meijer Consult
- Themes Water quality · Resource recovery · Circular economy · Agro-food processing
- Duration 7 May 2025 – 7 May 2027
- SDGs SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) · SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation)
From wastewater problem to valuable resource
Cassava processing produces large quantities of liquid residual streams containing organic matter and valuable components. When these streams are discharged as wastewater, they contribute to pollution and nitrogen emissions.
PROCAS takes a different approach: instead of treating cassava juice solely as waste, the project investigates how useful components can first be recovered from it. The remaining water can subsequently be treated, creating both environmental and economic value.
The objectives
The project aims to develop and demonstrate a process that can recover valuable proteins from cassava processing streams while reducing the environmental impact of cassava production.
Alongside the technical tests, the consortium is examining whether protein recovery can form the basis of a sustainable business model. On-site testing in Vietnam is intended to optimise the process and provide the information needed for an economic feasibility analysis.
The approach
Development started with laboratory and practical testing in the Netherlands and Vietnam. Initial tests at Colubris in Winterswijk used sweet cassava from Costa Rica, followed by trials with locally grown bitter cassava in Vietnam.
These tests demonstrated that extracting protein from cassava juice is technically possible, while also showing that effective pre-treatment, separation and cooling are crucial to the process.
The consortium subsequently designed a complete pilot installation inside a 40-foot container. The modular system includes a rasper, centrifuges, an ultrafiltration system and a spray dryer. All components used for the process are food-grade and the installation is fully cooled. Its containerised design means the system can be transported and deployed at different locations.
The PROCAS project contributes to a circular food chain, where nothing goes to waste.
Results and progress
The project has now reached an important milestone: protein powder has successfully been produced from a cassava process stream in Vietnam. The first pilot protein yield is 60.7%; directly after the decanter, 81% was measured. The next step is to further optimise the process and protein recovery.
An additional skid is being shipped to Vietnam for full-scale testing. Longer test runs are intended to provide further insight into membrane performance, capacity and process stability.
The work also points to opportunities beyond protein alone. Cassava can provide several valuable outputs, including protein powder, fibres and syrup, while treatment of the remaining streams can also produce cleaner water.
Testing in Vietnam
Testing has progressed from earlier trials to the production of protein powder from a cassava process stream in Vietnam. The next phase focuses on further optimisation and full-scale testing with an additional skid.
Longer test runs will generate data on membrane performance, capacity and process stability. The economic feasibility analysis has not yet been finalised, as stable membrane flux is needed to determine the required CAPEX. Membrane performance, alongside protein quality, will ultimately be a key factor in determining the viability of the business case. Together with the broader pilot work, these results should help the consortium assess the technical and economic feasibility of scaling the approach within Vietnam’s cassava-processing industry.
The team
The PROCAS consortium brings together the expertise of three companies:
- Colubris Cleantech provides the resource-recovery and water-treatment technology and has been responsible for development and construction of the pilot installation.
- Yenbinh, also known as Hieu Hung Agricultural Product and Food Processing, is one of Vietnam’s major cassava processors and provides the local industrial setting for the project.
- STAMEX contributes expertise and equipment for cassava processing, while Meijer Consult is also part of the consortium.
Beyond cassava
The technology being developed could have applications beyond the Vietnamese cassava industry. According to Colubris, the underlying separation process could also be applied to other plant-based residual streams.
This could make PROCAS relevant beyond cassava processing, offering opportunities to recover valuable food ingredients from other agricultural waste streams while reducing wastewater pollution.
Why it matters
PROCAS connects water treatment with resource recovery. Removing proteins and other organic components before wastewater treatment can reduce the pollution load, while turning those same components into products can help offset treatment costs.
This combination is central to the project’s circular approach: wastewater becomes a valuable source of raw materials and economic opportunities while reducing environmental pollution.
Innovation in Progress series
PROCAS features in Partners for Water’s ongoing Innovation in Progress series. Throughout this series, Partners for Water closely follows a selection of projects that have received a Partners for Water subsidy, from start to finish. Over the coming years, these projects will take you with them on their journey of testing the feasibility or application of innovative solutions to enhance water security abroad – including their processes, collaborations with local partners, potential solutions, and the struggles, challenges and lessons learned along the way.
