Leading malt producer Crisp Malt has initiated an innovative second recycling program, delivering an industry-first solution for bulk recycling of waste malt sacks. The newly launched Freight Recycling Programme follows a successful trial with nine brewing and distilling clients who purchase large quantities of malt sacks.
Recently, Crisp Malt collaborated with the innovative recycling company TerraCycle®, responding to robust customer demand for more sustainable food and drink packaging disposal solutions.
The Freight Recycling Programme enables clients to efficiently pack empty plastic malt sacks of any size onto pallets, without weight restrictions, thus providing cost-effective bulk collections and recycling options for brewers and distillers. This program accepts empty malt sacks from all suppliers, provided that the packaging is made of polypropylene or polyethylene. The total costs associated with this initiative are competitive with other waste disposal methods, which include recycling fees, pallet handling, and shipping charges. Specifically, the recycling fee is set at £2.47 per kg, while pallet handling costs a flat rate of £25 per pallet. The shipping fee will vary based on the customer’s distance from TerraCycle’s Material Recovery Facility, while customers can choose to manage shipment logistics themselves or coordinate with TerraCycle.
Ellie Wood, Sustainability Coordinator at Crisp Malt, said:
“The recycling of plastic malt sacks has been an industry-wide challenge for many years, mainly due to the difficulties around the local recycling of polypropylene. We have been working hard to resolve this and are proud to offer an industry-first solution to recycling waste malt sacks in bulk after a successful trial with our customers who found the system to be very user friendly. During the one month trial, we recycled 820 kg of waste malt sacks at an average cost of £2.82 per kg (excluding shipment fees). We are excited to be onboarding many new customers onto the programme, supporting them with their sustainability goals.”
Holyrood Distillery was one of nine customers to take part in the trial. Commenting on their experience, Calum Rae, Distillery Manager, said:
“When we heard about the TerraCycle trial at Crisp Malt we were delighted. The move towards more sustainable practices has been a key goal for Holyrood this year and this was the perfect chance to help shape and feed into this great initiative. The team at Crisp Malt clearly outlined what the trial was about and were supportive from start to finish. We found the trial to be a success as the ability to recycle our malt sacks will help alleviate a large portion of our waste disposal needs.”
Julien Tremblin, General Manager, TerraCycle Europe commented:“TerraCycle is delighted to have launched this freight recycling programme with Crisp Malt. Disposing of plastic malt sacks in a more environmentally responsible way is a challenge faced by commercial malt users of all sizes and capacities, so it is great to see Crisp Malt bringing a flexible, cost-effective recycling solution that caters for the varied operational scope of its client base. After a successful pilot with selected customers, we hope and expect to see widespread engagement across the malt-using industry as we roll out the solution across the UK.”
For over 150 years, Crisp Malt has established reliable relationships across the supply chain, ensuring the objectives of suppliers, customers, and end consumers are met. The company’s ongoing collaboration with TerraCycle promotes responsible practices, supporting clients in their pursuit of zero waste operations.
To learn more about TerraCycle and join them in transitioning to a circular economy from a linear one, please visit www.terracycle.com.
