Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/100667
in foc us green Business Above and beyond Chilton���s Briess Malt & Ingredients Co. joins Green Tier, expands environmental efforts By Rich Redman 44 | Insight ��� J a n u a r y 2 013 courtesy of Briess B riess, a leading ingredient supplier to American craft breweries and food manufacturers, recently became the 14th company in the New North region to be awarded Green Tier certification by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The program recognizes environmental performance that goes beyond what is required by law in the areas of health, safety and the environment. ���Entering into the Green Tier program is an important step for Briess that will further help us streamline our operations, set goals and develop additional programs to reduce our overall carbon footprint,��� says Gordon Lane, president of Briess Malt & Ingredients Co. of Chilton. Briess has been actively working on environmental stewardship since it was accepted into the Save Energy Now program of the U.S. Department of Energy in 2005. That same year, it formalized its Green with Briess sustainability program. ���Back when I started with Briess, we started looking at the things we were doing, and asking, ���how can we become even more green��� in order to help with our customer segments ��� particularly in the craft brewing segment,��� says Lane. Through process changes and capital improvements, Briess has made significant progress. For example, it has achieved a 30 percent reduction in natural gas use at the Chilton Malthouse since 2006 by installing air-to-air heat exchangers on kilns and implementing new operating procedures in the malt-roasting process. At the Irish Road Extract Plant, the company accomplished a similar goal by using improved heat exchange systems to recover hot water streams that are reused in cleaning and boiler systems and by recovering heat generated by drying operations and reusing it throughout the plant. Here are other examples of its environmental stewardship: �� Repiping clean discharge water into surface storm basins, which reduced the need to treat 6 million gallons of water each year. �� Eliminating ozone-damaging greenhouse gases by converting from freon to ammonia refrigeration. �� Recycling 99 percent of all waste streams by sending Finished malt is sold in bulk or recyclable paper bags. In addition to using only recyclable packaging, 99 percent of all Briess waste streams are recycled. Briess recently received Green Tier certification from the Wisconsin DNR for its environmental performance. byproducts to nearby farming operations as cattle feed and fertilizer. �� Providing high-strength waste to the biodigester at a local farm to produce methane that generates a continuous w w w. i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m