{"id":90583,"date":"2024-02-27T10:35:28","date_gmt":"2024-02-27T09:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/?p=90583"},"modified":"2024-02-27T13:58:17","modified_gmt":"2024-02-27T12:58:17","slug":"beer-packaged-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/bier-verpackt-lebensmittel\/","title":{"rendered":"Beer packaged food"},"content":{"rendered":"

When beer is brewed, the wort is processed from the mash and the spent grains often become animal feed or end up on the compost heap. Researchers at Empa have been working on a further utilisation for the spent malt and have produced nanicellulose, which can also be used for packaging.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Researchers from Empa's \u00abCellulose and Wood Materials\u00bb laboratory, headed by Gustav Nystr\u00f6m, believe there is more to it. They have now developed a process to produce high-quality nanocellulose from brewery waste<\/strong> - a versatile, biodegradable raw material that can be used, for example, to Packaging or fibre-reinforced plastics<\/strong> can be processed. The researchers have now published their findings in the journal \u00abACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering\u00bb.<\/p>\n

The first author of the study, Nadia Ahmadi Heidari, is a doctoral student at Isfahan Technical University. She came to Empa for a year as part of a Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship. She was particularly interested in the Production of biodegradable packaging materials from waste products<\/strong> - one of the focal points of the \u00abCellulose and Wood Materials\u00bb laboratory. \u201eWe are very interested in developing new sources of valuable raw materials such as cellulose fibres and lignin,\u201c says Gustav Nystr\u00f6m.<\/p>

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Micro- and nanofibrillated cellulose products are currently made from wood pulp. However, wood can be utilised more effectively elsewhere. \u201eWood binds CO2 from the atmosphere very well, but only grows slowly,\u201c explains Nystr\u00f6m. \u201eIt is therefore much better suited for long-lasting applications, such as in construction or for making furniture.\u201c<\/p>\n

The much faster-growing annual plants can supply raw materials just as well, but are still hardly used for this purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201eWith our process, we can extract high-quality materials from a waste product that is available very cheaply and in large quantities and is largely wasted today. This also benefits small companies, which can get the most out of the raw materials they already use.\u201c<\/p>\n

Gilberto Siqueira<\/strong>, Empa researcher and co-author of the paper<\/p><\/blockquote>\n