Friday 28 June 2013

Largest US brewery recycles 100% of its waste

The largest single-site brewery in the US has announced it has achieved its target sending zero waste to landfill.

MillerCoors said its Golden Brewery in Colorado has prevented an average of 135 tons of waste every month from going to landfill. It now reuses or recycles 100% of its waste, including all glass, paperboard, plastics, metal and brewing by-products. Residual refuse such as cafeteria waste and floor sweepings are sent to a waste-to-energy facility and used as an alternative fuel source to generate electricity.

Kelly Harris, an employee at the brewery said: "There's a mis-perception that sustainable manufacturing is expensive but employee behaviours are really the key to efficiently and affordably making the change. Working alongside brewery leadership, we developed a way to do things differently and implemented new manufacturing processes at the brewery. We've proven that there's an alternative place for all waste, even at one of the world's largest breweries."

Three other MillerCoors breweries also do not send any waste to landfill. MillerCoors is the second-largest beer company in America, capturing nearly 30% of US beer sales.

Earlier this month, Sainsbury's also achieved its zero waste to landfill target.