Nestlé-owned pet food maker Purina has earmarked €50 million (around £42.9M) for its Portogruaro factory in Italy, with a slice of the multi-year package going to a brand-new on-site wastewater treatment facility, according to a 23 September 2026 report from Food Manufacture. The investment is split across two projects to be delivered over the next three years, covering an upgrade of the existing dry pet food site and the construction of a dedicated treatment plant that will bring effluent handling in-house.
Key takeaways
- Purina is investing €50 million (around £42.9M) at its Portogruaro factory in Italy over the next three years, reported on 23 September 2026 by Food Manufacture.
- The money is being split across two projects: a site upgrade and a new on-site wastewater treatment plant, per Food Manufacture.
- The new facility will let the factory handle wastewater internally, replacing the current arrangement with external treatment plants, according to Food Manufacture.
- Portogruaro, founded in 1986, produces flagship premium brands including Purina Pro Plan and Purina One, as reported by Food Manufacture.
- The announcement sits alongside Purina's separate new wet-food site planned for Mantova, also reported by Food Manufacture.
What happened: a 40-year-old site gets a new wastewater plant
Portogruaro, founded in 1986, is one of Purina's most advanced factories within its European network and has become a centre of excellence for cat and dog food production, according to Food Manufacture. The €50 million envelope is being injected into two major projects over the next three years, the report said, and the construction of a new wastewater treatment plant is one of them. Purina's stated aim is to allow the factory to directly manage an activity currently entrusted to external plants.
“The new investments announced today upgrade a site that, for forty years, has contributed to the quality and innovation of Purina’s portfolio, strengthen our expertise in the super-premium segment and the strategic role of both Portogruaro and the new factory that will be built in Mantova within Purina’s European manufacturing network,” said Fabio Degli Esposti, managing director of Purina Italy and regional director for Southern Europe, as quoted by Food Manufacture. The same report ties the move to reducing transport to external facilities and the related environmental impacts, while delivering operational efficiency benefits.
Specification read
The €50 million figure is the only reported scale, and the source does not break out the share allocated to the new wastewater plant, so a hard m³/day number for the effluent stream cannot be derived from the sources. For a dry pet food site of Portogruaro's standing, an effluent flow in the low-thousands of m³/day with elevated BOD, COD and suspended solids is a normal envelope, but any specific flow or load figure is a (general industry range, not from the sources) estimate. The same general-industry envelope also informs a typical treatment train: screening and grit removal → flow/load equalisation → DAF or primary clarification → biological treatment (MBBR, SBR or A2O depending on the effluent and consent) → tertiary polishing and disinfection, with sludge handling on the side. What this project clearly bears on is the primary/biological block plus the sludge line, since the stated objective is to take over activity currently outsourced to external plants — meaning an in-house biological stage and probably a DAF or equivalent solids-separation step upstream.
If your plant is a wet or dry pet food or general food facility in the low-thousands of m³/day range with high-strength organic loadings (BOD in the multiple-thousand mg/L and significant suspended solids), an EU-style consent and rising haulage costs, then a project of this kind typically means a turnkey biological train with primary clarification, MBBR/SBR biological step and a DAF polishing stage, sized with future capacity headroom and a control package aimed at reducing chemical and sludge-handling OPEX — see our Food sector hub and the related DAF vs Clarifier for Chemicals Wastewater in Bowling Green (2026 Factory Guide) for the kind of primary-stage trade-off a buyer would be weighing, and our Water Purification hub for the downstream polishing scope.
FAQ
What exactly is Purina building at Portogruaro?
An on-site wastewater treatment plant to replace the current external handling, alongside a wider site upgrade, as reported by Food Manufacture. The source does not give a flow capacity, supplier list or process technology.
How big is the investment and over what period?
€50 million (around £42.9M) over the next three years, split between two projects, per Food Manufacture. The wastewater share of the envelope is not disclosed.
What flow rate should a buyer plan for at a dry pet food plant of this size?
The source gives no flow figure. For a large dry pet food site, low-thousands of m³/day is the typical envelope, with high BOD/COD and suspended solids — that is a (general industry range, not from the sources) number and should be confirmed against local mass balance and consent data.
Is this procurement open to external suppliers and what lead time should a buyer expect?
The report does not name suppliers, tender dates or a procurement route, so specific lead times are not available. For a comparable biological-plus-DAF plant of this scale, engineering, procurement and construction typically runs 12–24 months, which is a (general industry range, not from the sources) estimate.
