According to operations manager Dano Ferrons, Wilmington, NC’s Mad Mole Brewing Co. goes through 80 to 100 of the malt bags monthly. Although the plastics can be recycled, the fact they are extremely sturdy makes the process expensive and difficult. “To continue to be environmentally friendly, we are working on a reusable and recycle program for some of the packaging we receive our products in,” said Carmen Keene, an intern at Mad Mole Brewing Co. and a UNCW student studying environmental science.
Keene was integral to helping Ferrons implement the brewery’s initiative. Number five plastics often end up in landfills as a result of improper sorting or contamination from food waste (only plastic numbers one and two are allowed in New Hanover County’s landfill).
Instead, Keene secured a partnership with UNCW’s recycling center about taking the malt bags. Since 1989, the center has diverted items in the landfill by sorting what it collects by hand and ensuring it reaches the right recycling vendor. The center takes unusual and unique items and over a four-year span processed 41 tons of plastic, reducing C02 emissions from burning 82 tons of coal. Outside of recycling, Keene is also working with area nonprofits and organizations to repurpose the bags. In fact, she said she’d rather find a way to use them instead of depend on bulk recycling.