Cleaning and disinfection operations are of great importance within the food processing industries
for food safety reasons but they produce a significant environmental impact in terms of water
consumption and wastewater production. Most care areas in food industries rely on a range of
chemicals such as chlorine, quaternary ammonium compounds, bromine or iodine products, among
others, however, health and environmental concerns are supporting the need for alternative
sanitation technologies. Ozone might play an advantageous role in Cleaning in Place operations as
an alternative to other sanitizers with several potential environmental advantages. This paper
describes the progress made in a Life funded demonstration project with the objective to obtain data
that demonstrates the environmental advantages of replacing some conventional sanitizers by
ozone concerning cleaning in place systems. An analysis of the different factors involved in an
ozone based CIP system is commented, comments in relation to Best Available Technology
concerning to cleaning and disinfection are presented, environmental data related to current
cleaning operations obtained in collaborating industries of the winery and dairy sectors is shown and
a pilot plant designed to perform the demonstration trials is described, finally the potential
environmental advantages and the necessary performance indicators are discussed.