As of 2020 we are a zero waste brewery as 100% of our waste is being reused. This has been a lengthy and intensive process in which various projects have played important roles in order to ultimately achieve this amazing result. Huge steps have been taken with our larger projects regarding the recycling of waste, such as the reuse of the dregs produced during the brewing process and the reusable trays for festivals. But in the end it was the effort that our colleagues invested towards the smaller projects that enabled us to take the last step from reusing 99.8% to 100% of our waste.

Grolsch is not just making its own processes more sustainable, but also strives to partner with suppliers who care about CSR as well. That is why we also test the sustainability performance of our suppliers: it’s a fixed part of our procurement policy. Below is an example of a sustainable initiative by our supplier in 2019:

Elwe Special Promotions
Elwe Special Promotions is our supplier for, among other things, cardboard displays (RADs). As standard, the cardboard used for these displays is at least 70% recycled (FSC), but Elwe also believes it has a moral duty to offset the remaining 30% as well. They do so by planting new trees through Trees for all. Elwe processes approximately 120,000 sheets of cardboard every year for Grolsch and will be planting 20 trees to compensate for the 30% non-recyclable materials used in the displays.

Did you know that we recycle our own Grolsch crates and reuse them as Grolsch festival trays? In 2019 we started using reusable carrier trays at festivals for our beer brands Grolsch and Kornuit. The new carrier tray can hold up to five cups. The festival visitor can easily keep the tray in his or her pocket during the festival and reuse it when necessary. Grolsch carrier trays are made from recycled Grolsch crates; Kornuit carrier trays are made from recycled consumer plastic. With these new trays, festival sites will be considerably cleaner from the start of the festival all the way to the final tunes. This will hopefully generate awareness among festival visitors, prompting them to throw away less waste and hand in more plastic for reuse.
 

More info: Press release 28 May 2019

At the brewery, we actively separate various waste streams, such as foil, metal, glass and cardboard. All cans, bottles and casks that are returned to us are also recycled. When they return to the brewery, all labels are removed from the bottles when they are washed. The remaining paper pulp is reused in paper packaging for frozen products and in the brick industry. Our yeast and malt dust are reused as animal feed, and the kieselguhr we use as a filter to make sure that our beer is clear is either reused by farmers or is sent to a digester. Together with our suppliers, we look at ways to make more improvements, to make our packaging even more efficient and to reduce the amount of waste we produce.

Grolsch is a zero waste brewery and 100% of its waste is reused. Take, for instance, the dregs: the residual malt that remains after all sugars and proteins have been extracted. These dregs have a high nutritional value, which makes it a popular form of animal feed, especially for cows. Every year, we turn 50,000 tonnes of dregs into cattle feed, and 25 trucks visit our brewery to pick up this waste product for reuse every week, adding up to over 1,250 trucks per year.