Researchers turning beer byproducts into paper, textiles

Maggie Zee, a student at The University of Idaho College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, has found a way to utilize the waste left behind from hops, used primarily as a bittering, flavoring and stability agent in beer, allowing the possibility of creating a future with sustainable paper and textiles.

According to a report by The University of Idaho, Yakima Chief Ranches, a crop management company specializing in new hop varieties, saw a lot of waste and looked for alternatives to effectively utilize the waste.

Yakima Chief Ranches challenged Zee, who was at a career fair, to develop alternative hop waste usage; Zee majored in apparel, textiles and design.

“They have been trying to figure out how to use their hops waste at the end of harvest,” Zee said. “They want to find other practical uses for it, so it’s not just sitting around and composting.”

The challenge was placed on Zee, who decided to find a solution for the waste problem and sought out Armando McDonald, professor of renewable materials chemistry at the University of Idaho, College of Natural Resources, to find out what could be done as a viable byproduct.

The research was conducted to find out more about the bast fibers known for being strong, cellulosic fibers obtained from plants’ outer bark like hemp and used for paper.

“We’ve been trying to figure out the feasibility of hops bine as a textile material,” Zee said. “So far, we’ve been able to use it as a nonwoven material to make paper.”

The bine was put into a steamer basket with sodium hydroxide and boiled to see if the bark would rip off and reveal fibers; bleach was further added to breakdown the bine.

“From there, the fibers would easily pull apart so we could separate them from the nice, fine bast fibers versus the coarse hurd fibers or the stalk,” Zee said.

Using a food processor, Zee was able to pulp the fibers and a paper press to sift through the pulp and form sheets, which are then dried with a hot press.

“I think with the right thickness, fiber content (bas fiber vs hurd fiber), and additional chemical treatments for stubborn hurd fibers, this paper could be used for writing or printing paper,” Zee said. “I have made cards for friends with it [hops paper], and it is quite smooth to write on.

According to Zee, there may be some visible fibers in the paper that just adds texture to the paper, who describes the paper as really strong.

“I think that’s just a property of the hops, just by the characteristics of the fibers, they have this kind of zigzag pattern, and they’re really strong,” Zee said.

Paper is just the first step toward the sustainable development of hops for the industry, but now the next challenge is to look into the fibers as a textile source.

Scientific instrument maker in the Department of Physics, Brian Petty, worked to fabricate a decortication machine that strips off the bark and allows for the extraction of fibers. The device is based on a similar design used for extracting fibers from hemp plants.

“It’s something that we thought would be the best fit for our product, and we can use it for other bast fibers if we wanted to research other things,” Zee said. “It seemed like this was the most practical machine to create.”

According to Zee, the fibers feel like coconut fiber and are less like hemp or cotton in texture. The fiber is coarse, wavy, and thicker than the hemp fiber, which requires Zee to work quickly when combing these givers to maximize fiber retention.

“Combing it [Hop fibers] might produce fibers that feel more like hemp, but I am wary of combing it too much when it’s dry,” Zee said, “It tends to become more brittle when dry.

The hops bine is fed into a machine where only fiber remains, allowing Zee to comb the fiber and spins them together to create yarn.

Special projects coordinator at Yakima Chief Ranches, Ashley Hale, coordinated with Zee to source longer strands of bine and hops to create clothing items for her senior capstone project.

Hale and Yakima Chief Ranches believe in the critical work Zee is doing, especially with the project’s sustainability aspect.

“Because sustainability is such a huge aspect, this student is doing something really cool, and we want to support her,” Hale said, “I think using hop waste in an alternative way is a really cool project to get behind.”

According to Hale, the interest for clothing made from hops is significant because growers to breweries would be interested in the sustainability and the fact that their products could potentially be made from the same hops used to make the beer your drinking.

Yakima Chief Ranches might use the hops paper for labels, coasters and packaging.

“If more people can get on board with using their byproduct toward a renewable product, it seems like we’d be able to become more sustainable in our practices and have locally sourced materials to create endless amounts of things,” Zee said.

Zee stumbled upon apparel, textiles and design after earning a bachelor’s degree in geology from the State University of New York at Potsdam; worked nine years in various fisheries and natural resource jobs.

Zee grew sick of seasonal work but also tired of continuing to do the same work repeatedly, who began to fuel her creativity by working with different art forms and reconnecting with her creative side.

“I was also feeling very tired of doing the same thing over and over again and feeling like a cog in the wheel and not seeing the end result of the fieldwork I was doing,” Zee said.

Working as a ski and snowboard instructor at Brundage Mountain in McCall, when the inspiration to design clothing for jobs and activities began.

She never found clothes that fit correctly for working outside in the field; another problem Zee hopes to address in creating utilitarian clothing.

“Fashion is not my end goal; function is,” Zee said.

Describing herself as someone who isn’t fashionable, Zee was looking for something different and met with Lori Wahl, an instructor at the Margaret Ritchie School of Family and Consumer Sciences, and decided to make the career change.

According to Zee, the decision was challenging because of being in debt for the first degree and going back to school for a second degree incurring more debt.

“It was just something that I felt I needed to do because if not now, then I’d never do it,” Zee said.

Zee’s research will help her next plans to create a business that creates women’s outdoor clothing that fits, is functional, and potentially made from hops waste.

If Zee is successful in turning hops waste into woven textile, then she would like to manufacture and supply the sustainable material for her own clothing company.

“My goal is with this material is to make it as sustainable as possible,” Zee said, “Not only am I making a value-added byproduct, but it’s intended to be recycled or composted once usage is done.”