In Italy, a project to convert brewers’ waste into high-value bioplastics has begun its work. Funded by the Circular Bio-Based Europe Joint Undertaking HORIZON program, the POLYMEER initiative aims to valorize brewers’ spent grain, a brewery waste rich in fiber and protein, into new biobased polymers, copolymers and polymer blends for agriculture films, automotive industry […]
In the Netherlands, furniture and home goods giant Ikea has vowed to eliminate plastic packaging by 2028. While much of that plastic will be replaced with paper, some applications, like food, will require more outside-of-the-box thinking. “Paper is a very good material to use because it does come from renewable sources, and it has quite […]
Under development down under is lab-cultured yak, kangaroo meat, lion and tortoise, which apparently people eat, but now can do so without feeling guilty with the new cell-based meat replacements. Also saving the animals are material chemists that developed vegan leather made from fungal biomass. And a Swiss firm that launched biobased barrier coatings (made […]
In Germany, Trebodur has developed a biodegradable packaging material from brewery waste. Specifically, creators Niko and Tillmann found that brewers’ spent grains—the residue left over from barley malt during the lautering step of beer-making—contain self-binding fiber, which they dubbed “mabeerial.” Mabeerial can replace paper and plastic packaging in single-use items such as plates and cutlery. […]
As alcohol consumption keeps rising – thanks in part due to 4th of July celebrations, Covid-19 and quarantines, a struggling economy, and the start of summer for many countries – how do we compensate for the brewing process carbon footprint? One way is to just drink enough alcohol that you end up not caring. But […]
In the UK, breweries in the EU throw out around 3.4 million tons of unspent grain every year, weighing the equivalent of 500,000 elephants. Using just 1kg of the grain, a researcher from the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering has been able to create enough activated carbon to spread across 100 football pitches. The results have […]
In Michigan, PHYCO2 announced the successful treatment of wastewater from breweries to comply with state water discharge limits for nitrates and phosphates. During Phase 4 of the multiyear trial with Michigan State University, the research of sequestering CO2 for algae growth has shown that PHYCO2’s algae photobioreactor (APB) can be utilized to treat wastewater through algae growth and […]
In Colorado, CU Boulder engineers have developed an innovative bio-manufacturing process that uses a biological organism cultivated in brewery wastewater to create the carbon-based materials needed to make energy storage cells. This unique pairing of breweries and batteries could set up a win-win opportunity by reducing expensive wastewater treatment costs for beer makers while providing […]
In Vermont, a project which uses cow manure and beer brewery waste to create a high-sugar content waste stream has projected yields and energy balances comparable to other projects which have used direct sugar streams, according to the project’s USDA grant. The Vermont Fuel Dealers Association was awarded a $51,000 grant in 2013 to research […]
In Vermont, the USDA has awarded the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association a $51,000 grant to study growing algae for biodiesel on a dairy farm in the state. Waste streams from the Fiddlehead Brewery will be added to the phosphorous and nitrogen produced from the dairy’s existing anaerobic digester to provide the new home for algae.
