Secondary resources utilization/landfill minimization.

Wornson, G.O.

Abstract
The Miller Brewing Company's by-product utilization policy is intended to minimize waste and maximize the generation of saleable or otherwise useful products. Examples include spent grains, which are not only marketed for their traditional use as livestock feed, but also processed into a high fibre flour for the "health food" market. Surplus yeast is sold to food manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, etc. Carbon dioxide recovery systems installed in the company's breweries not only supply internal needs but produce a surplus for sale to various customers, including companies which use it in refrigeration as a substitute for gases more harmful to the environment (which also serves to reduce the environmental damage caused by carbon dioxide itself). Aluminium, glass, paper, cardboard and plastic packaging wastes are collected for recycling. Wherever possible, paper and cardboard items used by the company are made from recycled material. Organic effluents from the brewhouse, fermenters, maturing and storage tanks are processed into fertilizer. Specifications for some items used by the breweries have been changed to ensure that they are suitable for recycling. It is pointed out that these practices not only reduce damage to the environment but have substantially increased the company's profits since their adoption in the mid 1980s.
Keywords : brewery by-product costs economisation efficiency profit recovery recycling sales