Evaluating the Feasibility of Reusing Brewer´s Spent Grain Waste in Specialty Bread and Biofertilizer Production.

Brewer´s spent grain is the highest volume by-product of the brewing industry. When inappropriately disposed of, it represents a serious environmental hazard. Despite the availability and the possibilities that the literature presents, few Brazilian companies use brewer´s spent grain as raw material for composting, animal feed, or energy production. This article describes research evaluating the economic feasibility of reusing brewer´s spent grain in processes not allied with breweries. The study uses data from a cluster of 14 craft breweries in Brazil to model two possible outlets for reuse: production of specialty bread in bakeries and production of biogas and biofertilizer in biorefineries. The evaluation conducted utilizes computational simulation to compare reuse in the two outlets to determine their economic viability and the limiting conditions that ensure feasibility. According to the results, biofertilizer is more profitable than specialty bread production [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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