A greener future for Falkirk Distillery with new partnership deal

The deal signifies a milestone in achieving the family-owned distillery’s aim of further reducing its carbon and water footprint with cutting edge technology implementation.

The new agreement will see the local distillery’s whisky by-products processed at MiAlgae’s commercial demonstrator facility in Balfron. Applying MiAlgae’s technology as a circular solution, the by-products will be used as feedstock to grow omega-3 rich microalgae as a nutritious animal feed ingredient. This is something which is currently produced by extracting oil from billions of wild caught fish.

Fiona Stewart, company director and co-founder of Falkirk Distillery which produces approximately 200,000 litres of spirit per year, said: “Over the past ten years we’ve invested everything into setting up the distillery and creating a magnificent, high quality spirit. We’re absolutely delighted to have achieved this goal and now, our next step is to become greener and to strengthen our commitment to the environment by having sustainable values embedded in our company.

"When we first spoke to MiAlgae it was a breath of fresh air. We know that they can help us to get where we want to be as we scale up and explore ways to reduce our carbon and water footprint. Whilst we offload our by-products and reduce waste levels, MiAlgae will gain the ingredients needed to successfully manufacture its omega-3 product, so it’s a win win.”

The partnership between Falkirk Distillery and MiAlgae is now underway with an off-take agreement with transport company Gogar to transfer all the distillery’s waste products offsite being agreed with MiAlgae.

Dr Johann Partridge, operations director at MiAlgae, said: “Falkirk Distillery fits in perfectly with our strategy and values, so we’re excited to have progressed this agreement with them. What really stands out to us about the Falkirk team is their authenticity. It’s clear that they feel strongly about reducing the distillery’s overall impact on the world, and they operate at the cutting edge of a better and more sustainable whisky industry. It’s great to be working with an independent distillery that truly wants to make a difference, and we’re looking forward to working with them on this impactful project for years to come.”