This fall, University of Maryland Environmental Finance Center (EFC) will kick off a project to help craft breweries adopt sustainability practices, reduce pollution, and save money. The project – “Pollution Prevention Technical Assistance to Delaware and Southeastern Pennsylvania Craft Breweries” – is supported by a Pollution Prevention grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law's historic $100 million investment in the program.
EFC will provide onsite and offsite technical assistance to small brewery businesses in Delaware and southeastern Pennsylvania to help breweries identify opportunities to implement cost-efficient strategies to reduce water, energy, and chemicals used in their operations. The team will provide benchmarking tools, case studies, and recommendations for practices that increase operational efficiencies, reduce pollution, improve worker safety, and save costs.
The craft brewing industry is an important economic driver in both Delaware and Pennsylvania. According to the national Brewers Association, Delaware is home to 32 craft breweries, a four-fold increase since 2011. Pennsylvania saw craft breweries double in the past five years, and the state’s southeastern Chester County alone is home to 27 small brewery businesses. This fast-growing sector added nearly $6 billion to the two states’ economies in 2021 alone.
The project will be implemented in collaboration with two fellow Environmental Finance Centers at the University of Southern Maine and the University of North Carolina. The EFC project teams will collaborate to identify promising pollution prevention practices for the craft beverage industry, including guidance on financing environmentally friendly refrigerants. The centers will also foster opportunities for beverage manufacturers to compare notes with other sustainably-minded businesses across the country.
Also, check out this article in Maryland Today - Sustainable Suds: New UMD Project Brings Green Practices to Microbreweries.