Urban Chestnut Brewing Company was recently named one of the EPA’s sixteen national WasteWise Award Winners for their sustainability efforts in 2017, earning Small Business Partner of the Year. The WasteWise program recognizes organizations ranging from small nonprofits to large multinational corporations that demonstrate significant effort to prevent and divert waste.
“Sustainability has been a major focus of Urban Chestnut’s business plan since our inception in 2011,” said Quality Assurance Manager, Kurt Driesner. “Whenever possible, sustainable designs and processes are implemented at the point of installation.” The company’s commitment to sustainability has earned them the only LEED certification (silver) for a brewery in the state of Missouri. In the previous calendar year, UCBC diverted or repurposed 96-97% of its waste, including nearly 1.1 million pounds of spent grain and 28,000 pounds of wood pallets. The brewery added spent yeast to its waste diversion efforts in 2017 through a partnership with Center Ethanol in Sauget, IL and has prevented approximately 400,000 pounds of spent yeast from entering the municipal waste stream to date.
“This is yet another excellent example of the EPA partnering with communities and organizations to achieve environmental and economic benefits through waste prevention and management. The WasteWise award winners have exemplified tremendous environmental stewardship and fiscal responsibility, and we commend their efforts,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.
Last year, WasteWise partners collectively prevented and recycled over 355,801 tons of waste, saving $17.7 million in avoided landfill fees. Since the program started 23 years ago, partners have diverted 8.5 million tons of waste that would have otherwise been disposed of in landfills or incinerators. These actions – which include waste prevention, recycling, composting, and donation – have offset over $400 million in avoided landfill fees.
Urban Chestnut Brewing Company (UCBC) is an unconventional-minded yet tradition-oriented brewer of craft beer. Founded in 2010 by ~ Florian Kuplent- a German born and trained brewmaster with extensive experience at both small breweries, worldwide, and with the world’s largest, Anheuser-Busch, AND David Wolfe – a 20-year brewing industry member ~ Urban Chestnut operates three breweries in St. Louis, MO; Midtown Brewery & Biergarten at 3229 Washington Avenue in Midtown St. Louis, Grove Brewery & Bierhall at 4465 Manchester in Forest Park Southeast St. Louis, and The U.R.B. (Urban Research Brewery) at 4501 Manchester also in Forest Park Southeast St. Louis, where they brew batches of artisanal, modern American beers (their Revolution series) and classically-crafted European styles (their Reverence series). Urban Chestnut also operates a fourth brewery, Urban Chestnut Hallertauer Brauerei, in the Hallertau region of Bavaria, where they brew their Hallertauer Serie; small batches of locally sourced, Bavarian bier.
For more information on UCBC- Visit www.urbanchestnut.com