Exploitation of winery waste

Exploitation of winery waste

The wineries of the Municipality of Zitsa, owing to their significant wine production, have to manage large volume of winery waste, mainly grape marc and wine lees. Winery waste is currently burdening wineries’ operating costs, while it could be used to produce new high added-value products through an appropriate process. In this respect, the present paper explores the feasibility and viability of a winery waste process plant at Zitsa, in order to produce grape seed oil extract, grape oil extract and polyphenols. The analysis is performed for three different capacity scenarios, drawing data from primary market surveys and secondary sources. The results indicate that the proposed plant is an attractive investment, with additional environmental and social benefits that should not be ignored.