Brewery and Distillery Waste Management

• Waste management for breweries and distilleries
• Brewery and distillery waste products
• Bins for breweries and distilleries
• How does brewery waste collection work?

Every brewery, distillery, and cidery has a duty of care to manage all waste it produces responsibly. Rubbish from your brewery classes as commercial waste so must be stored safely on site and removed by licensed waste carriers. It should then be disposed of at authorised facilities in an appropriate manner depending on the waste type.

Within your brewery or distillery, you should follow the waste hierarchy when managing refuse. This means finding ways to reduce, reuse, recycle, and recover waste in that order. Reviewing your operating processes and finding ways to prevent and minimise waste production should be the priority, followed by ways to reuse any of it.

Brewing and distilling creates many specialist waste products, such as:

• Spent grain, malt, and potato (draff)
• Trub (solids from liquid wort)
• Waste yeast and apples
• Spent hops
• Pot ale (liquid distillation residue)
• Spent lees (liquid distillation residue)
• Used kieselguhr (filter material)

Most brewery waste products are therefore kinds of food and liquid waste that must be removed, stored, and disposed of responsibly. Distilleries and breweries generate a wide range of other waste types that vary depending on their size and operations. Brewery and distillery waste products can include:

• Liquid waste – wastewater from brewing and distilling processes, cleaning, and other liquids used.
• Food waste – waste apples from creating cider, leftover fruits added to flavour beers and spirits, waste potatoes from distilling processes.
• Cardboard recycling – packaging waste such as boxes used to deliver ingredients for brewing and distilling.
• Wood waste – wooden pallets used for shipping large items and quantities of ingredients and goods.
• Glass recycling – broken bottles from the bottling line, any empty bottles if there’s a taproom or shop on site.

Brewing and distilling naturally produce by-products including spent ingredients and wastewater, while bottling, canning, and packaging products also create waste. The types and amount of rubbish breweries and distilleries generate depends on their size, operations, and factors such as whether there’s a bar or shop onsite – but efficient management is vital for every business.

Start with an audit of your current operations and waste management processes across your brewery or distillery. Review what bins you already use and the types and volumes of waste your operations create each day. This should help you identify any opportunities to use recycling bins or if you need larger or smaller bins.

Use the waste hierarchy to assess if there are any areas where you can reduce waste. From this, you could set targets and build them into a detailed waste management plan. This should include information such as where waste is produced, stored, when it’s removed, who by, and how often – so there’s a clear trail.

Ensure any seasonal changes are accounted for as production amounts may fluctuate throughout the year, which impacts your waste too. Put a clear waste policy in place and train staff to follow it so you can reduce waste at the source, increase recycling, and ultimately benefit the environment and your business’s bottom line.

Recycling cardboard, glass, paper, metal cans, and some plastic waste from breweries and distilleries is simple. Store them in separate bins and arrange collection by a responsible waste management company that transports them to a recycling facility. Here they’ll be checked, sorted, and recycled alongside similar materials – ensuring effective brewery waste recycling.

When it comes to spent grains, hops, yeast, food, and other organic materials you should seek out natural recycling methods rather than disposing of it with general waste. Research has shown brewery waste disposal methods can differ depending on whether the brewery is in an urban or rural location.

However, some common ways to dispose of brewery waste such as draff, trub, and waste yeast in an eco-friendlier way are recovery by:

• Animal feed – this is the most common method breweries use to get rid of spent grain (but it can also be used for waste food and some other organic waste). Many farms and even some animal shelters will take it off your hands to feed livestock and animals, which puts it to good use.
• Composting – draff, spent grains, hops, and dust, waste yeast, used kieselgur from beer filters, and culms from malting can all be composted. Licensed waste carriers can transport it to industrial composting sites where it breaks down naturally alongside other organic waste.
• Fertiliser – another disposal method for spent grain by some breweries is to send it away to be converted into fertiliser through means other than composting.

Breweries and distilleries should store any waste alcohol in an IBC container, barrel or drum onsite. Then arrange removal by licensed waste carriers who will transport it to a waste management facility for treatment and disposal. To dispose of alcohol in the UK in smaller amounts you can contact your water company to check if it can be poured down the drain.

At home, you can dispose of small amounts of spoiled, expired, or waste alcohol down the drain. Dilute the waste alcohol with water first and only pour a maximum of two or three bottles away. Should you have many bottles of waste alcoholic drinks check if your local household waste recycling centre (HWRC) accepts them.

Get a free no-obligation quote for waste collection from your brewery, cidery, or distillery anywhere in the UK. Let us know what types and rough amounts of waste you want collected, where from, and how often for a tailored quote. Using our nationwide network we’ll help you save on your waste disposal costs.

We also provide free bins with no rental, delivery, or hidden fees – you only cover collection costs. Choose from daily, weekly, and fortnightly collections with ad hoc removals and flexibility around seasonality possible. You get a free duty of care certificate for all waste removed for added peace of mind.

Call 0800 211 8390 or contact us online today for your free quote. Speak to one of our friendly experts for a fast answer to any of your questions or for more information about managing waste from your brewery, cidery, or distillery.