The minimisation the product losses leads to an economic profit for the industry and a reduction of the waste treatment cost. Product losses can emanate from:
Product that remains in the tanks and the pipings and has not been recovered,
Connections' leaking,
Overflow of tanks and vessels,
Product lost during its handling or transport in the production process,
Product that does not have the required specifications and it is produced in the start or in the halt of the production process or after some functional problems.

There are two basic technologies that can applied in order to achieve product recovery, while reducing water consumption. The first one includes cleaning the pipings with plastic pigs (pigging). The system uses a piston or a ball (pig) that enters in the pipe and is pressed by the product or by some other liquid or gas. In this way liquid products (eg milk, sauces, juices etc.) can be recovered while the required water for cleaning the pipings is reduced. In addition, the use of the pigging system for cleaning the pipings is faster than cleaning them with water.

The second technology for product recovery includes the use of a membrane to separate the product from water and recover the water. The material of the membranes determines their cost. Thus, the ceramic membranes are more expensive than membranes of polymers. The functional cost depends on the life time of the membrane, the energy cost for maintaining the hydrostatic pressure and the feed system, as well as on special factors related to the production area.