Brewer's grain recycling

Goals

• Reduction of environmental impact through reduction of production waste

Problem

• One of the main problems of the beer industry is the disposal of organic waste created in the course of production.
• Each year, 30 million tons of such waste is produced.
• The majority of organic waste (brewer’s grains, malt sprouts, and yeast) is traditionally used in the agriculture.he brewer’s grains, which make up 30% of the initial weight of the malt grain, are widely used by the farmers as a natural feedstock.
• The brewer’s grains have a short shelf life, which limits the logistic capabilities.
• However, for environmentally conscious companies, the costs may turn into income if the recycling issues are properly dealt with.

Decision

• The Obolon Corporation also used to have problems with the recycling of brewer’s grains due to large amounts produced, up to 700 tons per day.
• In 2008, the company introduced a brewer’s grains drying project.This resolved the main problem by prolonging the shelf life of brewer’s grains to 6 months, and significantly expanded the logistics.
• Due to the heat intensity of the drying process,the company implemented the heat supply system remodeling project in 2011 in order to reduce the energy intensity of the production.Since then, Obolon partly uses the recuperated steam to dry the brewer’s grain, with 100% of condensate returned to the boiler room.

Resulit

The Corporation Obolon became the first Ukrainian company to recycle brewer's grain (brewing waste). The dry granule production unit is capable of processing up to 700 tons of raw brewer’s grain per day without any harmful environmental impact.

As a result:

• a significant reduction in wet grain waste – на 91% for seven years;
• improved sanitary condition of the territory;
• reduction of vehicle exhaust gas emissions due to the reduction in wet grain transportation.