Reuse of bEer SpenT grAin foR bioplasTics

Introduction

The EU Brewing Industry produces over 39.5 MioL of beer yearly, generating over 6.4 Miot/year of Beer Spent Grain (BSG), the main side-stream of the brewing process. In the EU, 20% of BSG is landfilled, which amounts to 1.28 Miot/year.

Project Overview

LIFE RESTART (Reuse of bEer SpenT grAin foR bioplasTics) is a close-to-market project that will reuse BSG to substitute fossil-based plastics (FbP) for food and non-food manufacturing and packaging. This initiative provides an adequate response to some of the most pressing environmental issues related to BSG disposal and non-biodegradable, persistent FbP, while also addressing relevant social issues.

Further, LIFE RESTART will recover water contained in BSG, improving brewery wastewater quality and reducing water consumption.

Environmental Problems Targeted

The main environmental problems targeted by the project are related to:

i) Circular Economy & Waste Reduction
ii) Water
iii) Chemicals

Project Objectives

LIFE RESTART's main objectives, in agreement with the LIFE sub-program on Circular Economy and Quality of Life, are:

1. 75-80% recovery/reuse of BSG waste for biopolymer production
2. 75% recovery/reuse of wastewater (WW) from BSG pre-drying
3. 5% COD/BOD reduction in brewery wastewater
4. 15% reduced consumption of non-biodegradable FbP for manufacturing/packaging
5. 35% reduction of virgin bio-polymers consumption, generating new bio-based feedstocks without land depletion
6. Generate 7 new green qualified jobs, 2 of which are for socio-economically disadvantaged people.

Ambition and Impact

The ambition of LIFE RESTART, through replication, transferability activities, and business modeling, is to recover/reuse 12,000 tons of BSG, which is equivalent to 20% of the BSG presently landfilled in Italy. This is expected to occur three years after the project, with a projected turnover of 21.5 Mio€/year from BSGF-BP production and the creation of up to 35 new jobs in the EU by promoting the replicability of the LIFE RESTART process in other territories and breweries.

Location

The project will mainly be carried out in Sicily, where most of the partners are located, which is one of the “Less Developed Regions” in the EU.