Brewery’s wastewater will be converted to high-protein fish food
New Belgium Brewing Co. is joining forces with three Colorado entrepreneurs to turn the brewery’s wastewater into high-protein fish food.
Randy Swenson, CEO of Oberon FMR Inc., told the Rocky Mountain News that his company, which produces fish meal replacement for farm-raised fish, also has teamed with the Colorado School of Mines to “brew” the fish food at a pilot production plant at New Belgium’s brewery.
Protein-laden bacteria from New Belgium’s brewing wastewater will be changed into a protein-rich biomass that will be dried into granules and added to fish feed, reducing the need for fish meal.
The brewery, which installed its own process water treatment facility in 2002, currently uses anaerobic and aerobic ponds to reduce organic waste and uses the methane produced during the wastewater treatment process into energy that powers about 10 percent of the brewery.