Zero Waste Initiatives in Brewery

Type of practice Recycle

Name of practice Zero Waste Initiatives in Brewery

Name of main actor Great Lakes Brewing Co., Cleveland

Type of actor(s) Company

Location United States of America

Stage of implementation End-of-life

Year of implementation 2004

What was/is being done? Great Lakes Brewing Co. (GLBC) in Cleveland provides spent grain and scrap paper to farmers of which products are used at their pub restaurant menu. The founders, the Conway brothers have incorporated “zero waste initiatives” into day-to-day operations. The objective is to make full use of the by-products generated from the brewing process.

Outcomes and impacts About 175,000 pounds of spent grain (barley), 225 gallons of used yeast, and 280 pounds of residual hops leave the brewery monthly. Several initiatives were developed to make the company minimize its waste production to zero. The company operates a beer delivery truck and a shuttle bus called “The Fatty Wagon” that runs on straight restaurant vegetable oil. Results show that engines running on straight vegetable oil produce 40 percent less soot than diesel and are 25 percent cleaner. The company's restaurant also produces cracked barley beer bread and pretzels found on the menu using grains from the brewing process. The brewery grains is also used as a substrate for growing organic shitake and oyster mushrooms by the Killbuck Farms. The substrate is combined with sawdust and paper to serve as a medium for growing the organic mushrooms used in entrees. GLBC's Brewpub regularly features all-natural beef, pork, chicken, cheeses and produce from local, organic farmers. A number of local farmers are raising livestock on a diet of brewery grains. Most of the residuals have been collected in 6 to 7-ton trailer loads by a dairy farmer, who blends the mixture with other ingredients (corn, soybeans, etc.) to feed more than 200 cows. GLBC also uses vermicomposting to produce natural fertilizer. A portion of paper, kitchen scraps, grain and cardboard is fed to worms, which then produce castings used to fertilize the herbs and vegetables found on the menu. To minimize the waste of throwing away “low-fill beers” (bottles of beer that cannot go to retail because they are not filled to the maximum level), GLBC uses the beer in a number of menu items.

Source(s)

http://www.jgpress.com/inbusiness/archives/_free/001294.html;

http://beeractivist.com/2007/04/15/grains-of-possibility-ways-to-use-spent-brewing-grains/

Contacts

http://www.greatlakesbrewing.com/contact