An effective way of saving energy is insulating properly the equipment. The use of proper insulation on pipes, valves, vessels and on other plant equipment can reduce at about 9% the required energy, whereas the environmental performance of the industry is improved.

The consumption of energy can be optimised in the steam boilers by reusing the steam's condensates as liquid feed to the boilers, by preheating the air and by recovering the heat of the combustion gases.

Moreover, the consumption of energy in the dryers can be reduced by minimising mechanically the humidity of the raw material before it goes to the dryer and recovering the energy from the dryer's hot air using a heat exchanger of air-water or air-air.

The reduction of the humidity of the raw material from 60% to 50%, leads to an energy saving up to 15% in the dryer. The recovery of heat with a heat exchanger of air-water can lead to an energy saving of 70%, whereas in the case of an air-air heat exchanger the energy reduction reach a 30%.

Finally, the separation of the hot streams of waste from the cold ones and the later energy recovery leads to the minimisation of the required energy and improves the environmental performance of the industry.