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Beer as a Starting Point for Sustainable Innovation.
Beer is traditionally made from four key ingredients: water, malt, yeast, and hops. In the initial stage of the brewing process, malt is crushed and mixed with hot water to produce a sweet liquid known as wort. This wort, when combined with yeast and hops, undergoes fermentation to become beer.
During this process, a solid byproduct known as spent grain (or malt residue) is also produced. This material is collected and carefully dried to create a recycled composite that functions similarly to wood.
In alignment with a low-carbon, sustainable approach, no primary energy sources are used in the production of this material. INSTEAD recovers and repurposes heat from nearby industrial facilities to generate the steam required for drying.
No epoxy or petrochemical binders are involved. The fusion of two recycled materials, combined with the natural caramelization of brewing sugars, results in Balt®—a high-performance, eco-friendly material that is:
• 100% bio-based
• 100% recycled
• 100% recyclable
• Waterproof
• Durable
• Thermoformable
