Tuesday, January 14, 2025
[New material] Instead transforms beer waste into high-end furniture
![[New material] Instead transforms beer waste into high-end furniture](https://mobicheckin-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/events/67517eb94e797020e62fb2f9/blog_articles/677e52a0103931bc7e3ec20a/Banniere-wordpress-3-2.png.png)
In France alone, several million liters of beer are produced each year. On average, 300 kilograms of malt are needed to make 1000 liters of beer. It’s the husk of this cereal that becomes the spent grains. Suffice it to say that brewers have an abundance of them. Craftsman and designer, Franck Grossel, has been working for two years to give a second life to these spent grains by transforming them into high-end furniture made in France through his brand, Instead.
Recovering its raw materials from breweries
“In the initial brewing phase, the brewer seeks to convert the enzymes and starch contained in the crushed malt into sugar,” details the entrepreneur on KissKissBankBank. It is this sugar that will allow the material to agglomerate and form a resilient product.
To create the seat of his bar stool, Franck Glossel doesn’t use epoxy, resin, or plastic, but instead ‘exploits the intrinsic qualities of the spent grain.’ Only a minute quantity of binders (2%) – a recyclable glue, emitting no VOCs and inert to humans, the company asserts – is added to enhance strength and reduce the product’s baking time – reportedly twenty times shorter. The secret to a solid, durable, and local product.”