The products left over after brewing can be used in other industries or applications within a brewery. More than 80% of the production leftovers from brewing consist of brewers' spent grains (BSG). Traditionally BSG is used as sustainable local source of animal feed being sold within a 200km radius of the brewery. This was always considered a vital source of protein often replacing less sustainable imported commodities like soy.
Innovative separation technology to extract proteins and fibers
To deal with the challenges of our time, Duynie has developed an innovative separation technology that can create an even more sustainable process for repurposing BSG. For example, Heineken Brewery's Project Circle that aims to create a highly replicable model for using brewer's spent grains (BSG). The project is based on an Duynie’s innovative separation technology to extract proteins. These proteins can be used in the food, feed and pet food industry. The remaining separated fibers can likewise be used in food, feed and pet food, but also in technical bio-based materials, and as a biomass to generate thermal energy. Heineken chose to do the latter using the remaining separated fibers as biomass (with high thermal efficiency) to replace fossil fuels.
By replacing natural gas with energy from fiber, the first selected brewery could achieve an estimated 50% reduction in Scope 1 thermal energy use (preliminary assessment from third-party). To achieve this goal Heineken is partnering with Duynie in the project. The Mons-en-Barœul brewery is implementing Duynie's innovative technology and will be operational by 2025.
How it works
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After the brewing process, the brewer's spent grains (BSG) go to a separation plant on-site where they are separated into proteins and fibers.
In Heineken’s case the fibers will be used as a thermal renewable energy source. The remaining water is converted to biogas and used as an additional renewable energy source.
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By increasing the amount of renewable energy used in production, brewers could reduce the need to purchase fossil fuels for industrial process heating, which in turn lead to a reduction of their carbon emissions.
Unlocking co-products for net zero goals
HEINEKEN is one of the breweries that wants to use the full potential of its co-products which could contribute to its global ambition to reach Net Zero emissions across the value chain by 2040 and to reach Net Zero emissions in Scope 1 & 2 by 2030.
A key factor in achieving Heineken's net-zero goals is circularity. Or in their own words: "From barley to bar, we need to adopt circular practices to reduce our environmental impact by minimizing waste and maximizing the efficient use of these resources (HEINEKEN, 2023)."
Duynie ensures your production continuity
By working with Duynie you are ensured that the Brewers Spent Grains are always collected and you receive the right service so you can focus on your main process of brewing beer. But it is not only Duynie's experience that you can count on to give you peace of mind. It is also our pragmatic, personal and local approach in the many European countries in which we operate. We use data dashboards to ensure that there is always a healthy balance between supply and demand for co-products. This ensures that our team can respond to any event in the brewing process through data integration. Our dashboard alerts us to any anomalies, and we send trucks to collect any excess co-products before you even know you need them.
Want to know more about how you can reduce your carbon footprint, and find a co-product partner that actually takes the weight off your shoulders? Please contact our team of experts, who will be happy to provide you with tailored advice.
Contact our Brewery Expert
Douglas Stibbe
Category Manager Breweries
Douglas Stibbe
Category Manager Breweries