Turning whisky’s wastewater into pet food rich in Omega-3 Douglas Martin, founder and managing director of MiAlgae, explains how his University of Edinburgh biotech start-up is turning algae into nutritious pet food using a by-product from the Scotch whisky industry.
Walking around a fish market is an experience that can stimulate the
These rules – which are designed to increase water quality,
senses: there’s the sight of the weird and wonderful fish of all shapes
especially on beaches, bringing benefits to both people and our
and sizes lined up in their containers; there’s the noise from the buyers
environment – can lead to an expensive headache for whisky distilleries.
and sellers haggling over prices at the auction; there’s the smell of
Those same rules also lead to an exciting opportunity though.
the sea filling the air as the latest catch is landed.
As a company at the forefront of creating a “circular economy”,
Sadly, not all of those fish at the market will end up being lowered
in which the waste products from one industry can be turned into the
into a chip shop’s deep-fat frier or making it onto the kitchen’s pass at
raw materials for another, our company can provide a solution for
a high-end restaurant. Instead, much of the fish that can’t be sold –
these distilleries. In effect, we’re taking a “by-product” and turning it
either through lack of demand or because there’s no quota available
into a “co-product”.
– will be ground up and turned into fishmeal, which will be used as pet food, animal feed, or even food for farmed fish.
How that wastewater is created
Turning wild fish into feed for other animals is simply unsustainable.
It’s fascinating to think that Scotch whisky – the bedrock of a massive
Already, around 90% of the world’s fish stocks are over-exploited or
industry, which exported the equivalent of 1.14 billion bottles last year
fully depleted, giving rise to the need for quotas in the first place.
[2020] – is made from three simple ingredients: malted barley, water,
As conservationist Sir
and yeast. By law, it can only be made in Scotland and must age for
David Attenborough has
at least three years in oak barrels before it can make the magical
reminded us in countless
transition from “new-make spirit” to “Scotch whisky”.
television series, the
To begin the process, barley is soaked in warm water until it
very future of our seas
germinates, with a wee shoot poking out from the grain, signalling
lies in our hands.
that the starches in the cereal are being converted into the sugars that
That desire to
are needed to make alcohol. Germination is then halted by drying the
prevent the over-harvesting of fish was one of my motivations for
grains in a kiln; in the past, these fires would have been lit using peat,
founding MiAlgae in 2016. My biotechnology company uses algae to
which gave a smoky flavour to the barley, but now most distilleries
create a feedstock that’s rich in Omega-3 oils, just like wild caught
burn gas or kerosene, with peated whiskies confined mostly to the
fish. And we make that nutrient-packed feed with a little help from
island of Islay in the Inner Hebrides chain off the west coast.
Scotland’s national drink – whisky.
This malted barley, or malt, is then ground down and added to warm water to make a “mash”, dissolving the sugars into a liquid
The romance and reality of whisky
called the “wort”, which is drawn off. The grain that’s left over is called
There’s a romantic side to making whisky. Millions of tourists each year enjoy taking tours around distilleries tucked away in the Highland glens, peering in at the oak casks as they slumber in their vast warehouses, before enjoying a dram of the amber nectar by the fireside back in the comfort of their hotels. Yet whisky – like any other industrial process – creates byproducts that need to be handled in a safe and environmentallysustainable way. In the past, wastewater from distilleries could simply be released into the local river or loch or sea, but now more stringent environmental protection laws mean that waste needs to be taken away for treatment and disposal.
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Pet Food Supplement 2021
Copper stills used for the production of malt whisky
