Recycled whisky waste has £140m potential

The Scotch whisky industry could generate £140 million through recycling whisky wastes into fish feed for Scotland’s fish farming industry and help build a more circular economy.

Scotland’s whisky sector could generate £140 million by recycling waste products into fish feed

The possibility was highlighted in the Circular Economy Scotland report, which examines how the certain sectors such as oil and gas and the food industry can use their strengths to generate millions of pounds worth of value from materials used in these areas.

It suggested the whisky industry could continue to capture heat and electricity from whisky wastes, but biorefining wastes could produce two more products in the forms of protein meal for fish farming and phytosterols, which help manage cholesterol levels.

The fish meal created would be wroth approximately £1,500 per tonne, significantly more than the £50 per tonne for pot ale syrup.

“Scotland is a long way ahead of other parts of the UK in its policy support for resource productivity,” said Dustin Benton, of charity and independent think tank Green Alliance and author of the report.

“Its track record of success in renewables, combined with its research strengths and business support bodies, put it in a strong position to develop the technologies needed to capture high value, innovative manufacturing opportunities in a circular economy.”

In October last year, Royal Brackla Distillery became the fourth Scottish distillery to benefit from funding by the UK Green Investment Bank with a newly installed eco-friendly biomass boiler.