Going around in circles: whisky by-products and the bioeconomy

There are over 100 malt distilleries in Scotland with the capacity to produce 280 million litres of whisky per annum. For each litre of whisky produced, over 11 kg of by-products from spent grains (draff), CO2 and pot ale are generated. Use of these by-products is a good example of the circular economy in practice and this is not a new idea for distillers. From the outset, whisky by-products have been used as animal feed with draff fed directly to cattle and pot ale to pigs. However, these traditional uses are under threat from increasing energy costs and competition with similar by-products from the bioethanol industry. In this presentation, new market opportunities for whisky by-products, synergies with other industries and how this fits with a circular bioeconomic framework will be demonstrated. The research of the Horizon Proteins group will be presented with progress on the development of novel processes for the energy-efficient extraction and recovery of valuable proteins discussed.