In the wake of a successful malt sack recycling scheme, Crisp Malt has announced a new campaign aimed at greater sustainability — Return-A-Bag.
“The responsible disposal of empty malt sacks has long been a challenge to brewers and distillers,” said Ellie Wood, Crisp’s sustainability coordinator.
“Here is an industry-first solution. Not only does it include empty bags from all malt suppliers, but also, it cuts out recycling and handling fees.”
Malt sacks are made from polypropylene or polyethylene. They are strong, flexible, and keep out moisture, making them ideal for malt packaging, delivery, and storage. But there is currently no effective, practical, bio-degradable replacement, which means an emphasis has to be placed on recycling.
A previous project run between Crisp Malt and several customers saw more than 67,000 plastic malt sacks recycled in a year.
“That was a great start,” said Ellie. “But the new Return-A-Bag scheme will deliver far greater quantities. In its first month alone, more than 16,000 x 25kg bags (weighing over 1,500kg) have been sent for recycling. We are encouraging all our customers to get signed up and start recycling!”
The only cost to brewers and distillers is transportation. Crisp customers can organise their own transport of empty sacks to the waste aggregation facility near Swindon, or Crisp can organise transport on behalf of customers, using their associated haulier.
There is full traceability of waste volumes received and processed, so breweries and distilleries can use the information in their annual reporting. There’s a step-by-step guide for Crisp customers to get involved, helping to reduce the amount of polypropylene and polyethylene waste ending up in landfills.
Sacks sent through the Return-A-Bag scheme are collected and grouped at an aggregation facility. They are then recycled by third-party certified processors, which Crisp Malt regularly audits, ensuring full traceability.
The waste malt sacks are processed into secondary raw material and reintegrated back into supply chains, often as garden furniture, playground flooring, hard plastics, and more. This recycled material is used by manufacturers, replacing virgin plastics, and ultimately reducing fossil fuel usage.
