usiness case on RECP assessment in Shirak Green Club member "MUR-HAR" LLC
Founded in 2001, "Mur Har" LLC specializes in bakery products, offering 40-50 varieties, including Armenian lavash, matnakash, bread, rolls, cookies, pies, pastries, and muffins. In 2021, the company introduced a new product, tannin, used for aging cognac. This is exclusively derived from oak wood and plays a crucial role in the oxidation and formation of new aromatic substances during the maturation of brandy alcohol. Currently, tannin is primarily sold to Armenian companies specializing in producing cognac. From 2024 onwards, the company will also export tannin to France. Motivated to address production costs, "Mur Har" LLC participated in the RECP Green Clubs project under EU4Environment (2019-2024). This publication details the company’s experience reported after the assessment exercise conducted in 2024.
The RECP assessment examined the production site and identified several RECP options, out of which the following four were prioritized by the company. These include medium and low-cost measures:
RECP option 1: Installing photovoltaic (PV) solar panels and purchasing an electric vehicle (EV): A PV solar system with a capacity of 60 kWp would be sufficient to cover the needs of the company (considering the electricity demand of EVs). EVs have low maintenance costs due to fewer moving parts compared to internal combustion vehicles; their servicing requirements are also lower than those for conventional petrol or diesel vehicles.
RECP option 2: Energy savings improvements (thermal insulation of doors and windows, replacing incandescent light bulbs with LED ones, and installing new windows): The installation of new windows and replacement of inefficient incandescent and luminescent lamps with LED bulbs could lead to 70-80% economic savings. Additionally, the thermal insulation of the building would reduce unwanted heat loss or gain and could decrease the energy demands of heating and cooling systems.
RECP Option 3: Producing rusk from returned dry bread: It is estimated that 0.6 m³ of the dry and stale bread is returned daily, with 60% being suitable for rusk (paksimath) preparation, with the remaining amount being suitable to be used as livestock feed.
RECP Option 4: Generating useful by-products from the waste of oak wood chips: Useful by-products such as wood briquettes and medicine could be produced from the waste resulting from the oak wood chips, although this would require significant changes to the production site.
