PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Brewer’s spent grain (BSG) is the main waste product from the beer brewing process, accounting for 85% of all waste. For every 100 litres of beer produced, 20 kg of BSG are generated. According to Eurostat, almost 39.5 million litres of beer were produced in the EU in 2017, generating revenue of €138 649 million. This figure is expected to reach €159 687 million by 2025. More than 6.4 million tonnes of BSG waste are produced annually.
Since the landfilling waste from beer production is unsustainable and expensive, most breweries give away BSG, almost cost free, to farmers to use as animal feed – but this entails the cost of transporting wet BSG with an 80% water content, while sanitation has become an increasing concern. It is estimated that for every tonne of BSG landfilled 513 kg CO2 equivalent is released. In the EU, around 70% of BSG is used as feed, around 10% is used to produce biogas and the remaining 20% is landfilled.
OBJECTIVES
LIFE RESTART aims to reduce food waste from breweries by implementing a semi-industrial process that transforms BSG into fillers (BSGF), thus producing high value and biodegradable biopolymers (BSGF-BP) for food containers and packaging. The project will therefore demonstrate a circular and social economy approach to waste management.
The project partners belong to a social economy cluster, Advanced Social Cluster, which is led by the coordinating beneficiary. The cluster will ensure the full integration of social and environmental criteria in the implementation of all the activities with a community-focused approach.
Specifically, the project aims to:
- Implement a pre-drying system for BSG on a semi-industrial scale of 1 tonne batches;
- Scale up the laboratory BSGF-BP production to 10 Kg/batch and then to semi-industrial production of 150Kg/hour;
- Produce food containers, coasters and trays for beer producers on a pilot scale (10 Kg/h) and semi-industrial scale (up to 300 Kg/h); and
- Generate high economic value for BSG, yielding revenue of between €470 000 to €5 million by the end of the project.
RESULTS
Expected results:
- 75-80% recovery/re-use of BSG waste for biopolymer production (550 to 600 tonnes);
- 75% recovery/re-use of wastewater from BSG pre-drying;
- 5% reduction in the ratio of chemical and biochemical oxygen demand (COD/BOD) in breweries;
- 15% reduction in oil-based plastic packaging (300 tonnes);
- 35% reduction of virgin bio-polymers consumption, and demand for pure natural resources, generating new bio-based feedstocks, without land depletion (110 tonnes);
- 15% substitution of non-biodegradable based polymers with biodegradable polymers;
- Certification of on-pack recycling labels and presentation of the solution as best available technique (BAT/BREF);
- Creation of green jobs, two of which will go to socially disadvantaged applicants;
- Design of a community-focused business model that provides employment for local disadvantaged people while generating economic resources to be invested in local social development actions; and
- Drawing up of business plan and a community welfare action plan that allocates a large share of operating revenues to social development actions.
