AlgaeBrew (FO0219): Unlocking the potential of microalgae for the valorisation of brewery waste products into omega-3 rich animal feed and fertilisers

The brewery industry in the UK is worth almost £9B to the economy, and the number of breweries continues to increase every year. In addition to domestic consumption, UK beer export ranks as the sixth largest in the world. Breweries can be significant generators of wastewaters and spent grain, linked to their specific industrial processes, and the conventional linear "collect-treat-discharge" way of handling waste is costly and environmentally unsustainable. The AlgaeBrew project will utilise the vast potential of microalgae-based biotechnology to convert brewery liquid and solid wastes into useful products, thereby creating new revenue streams for breweries, decreasing their environmental impacts and promoting a circular bioeconomy to support UK policy on halving food waste by 2030.