Beer to Paper: Upcycling malt lees into Craft Beer Paper!

Did you know that during brewing craft beer, up to 2,000 kg of malt lees are produced every month, and that most of it get discarded? Kitafuku in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, a company that manufactures and promotes IoT devices for people who work in factories, saw an opportunity. Hoping to create a society where environmentally friendly products become commonplace, the company decided to tackle food loss by creating “Craft Beer Paper” using the malt lees.

They first collected malt lees from Yokohama Beer. Then, they turned to Pepal, a paper manufacturer in Nara Prefecture with a history of over 120 years, to acquire the skills needed to make recycled paper using malt lees.

They researched and experimented with ways to upcycle malt lees into paper. It resulted in a sturdy paper slightly brown like beer, suitable for coasters, shop cards and postcards. If you look carefully, you can even find malt lees included in some parts of the handmade paper! Perhaps you can strike a conversation with your business partner if you use the Craft Beer Paper for your business card!

Kitafuku hopes the upcycled paper will be widely used at breweries and restaurants in the future. Postcards and A4 and B5 sizes of “Craft Beer Paper” are sold on their online store now, but they hope to sell it in other forms too, like notebooks, etc.

Kitafuku hopes to introduce an upcycling mechanism that turns waste into something much more valuable through their project. It sure is an attractive material for craft beer lovers! Let’s hope we see more of this sustainable paper used in different scenes of our life.