SAN DIEGO, Calif. — A nonprofit is working to clean up the production of craft beverages in Southern California.

What You Need To Know

  • The craft beverage industry creates thousands of pounds of trash every year

  • San Diego Brewcycling Collaborative is a nonprofit working to clean up the production of craft beverages in Southern California

  • Brewcycling Collaborative says they have diverted almost 200,000 pounds of waste from landfills since 2021

  • San Diego is considered the capital of craft in the United States, with more than 160 craft breweries in the county

The craft beverage industry is full of unique flavors but also creates thousands of pounds of trash every year. 

Luke Suttmiller is the head brewer and sustainability manager at Juneshine. They joined the San Diego Brewcycling Collaborative as a drop-off and recycling hub.

Other San Diego businesses bring their hard-to-recycle plastic waste to Juneshine to be separated and bailed — focusing on materials like malt bags, shrink wrap, cardboard, and aluminum — before selling them back in bulk to local recycling brokers.

“The best thing you can do is clean up your own mess to give yourself a chance at being sustainable,” Suttmiller said. 

Romi Rossel co-founded the San Diego Brewcycling Collaborative and says they have diverted almost 200,000 pounds of waste from landfills since 2021. A big problem they’re tackling is finding ways to recycle and reuse PakTech beverage toppers.

“All of these typically end up being sorted to landfill instead of getting recycled,” Rossel said.

Rossel says that even though the handles are made of recyclable material, their flat shape causes them to rarely be picked up or read correctly by the sorting systems at Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs). This issue causes the plastic to not be recovered and contaminates other materials.  

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Rossel says they created more than 40 drop-off locations around San Diego County where people can return the handles. Brewcycling Collaborative coordinates the pick up of PakTechs from participants to their partners at MacRebur Southern California. Through a specialized process, MacRebur then turns the plastic into roads as an alternative to fossil fuels in asphalt.

“The planet is everybody’s responsibility, so we have to work together to come up with solutions,” Rossel said. 

For many, San Diego is considered the capital of craft in the United States, with more than 160 craft breweries in the county. Suttmiller hopes the desire for responsible waste management will grow as the craft culture continues to grow.

“It’s better for you, better for the planet,” he said. 

According to the PakTechs to Pavement program, they have helped divert 5,000 pounds of PakTech beverage holders from the landfill.