Adreonna RaineySmall enough to fit in your hand, yet powerful enough to change how we think about sustainability, these biodegradable nursery pots, made from distillers’ spent grains, tackle two major environmental challenges: bourbon byproducts and plastic pollution. Designed to support seedlings as they grow and then break down naturally into the soil, each pot represents a step toward a more sustainable future.
Kaydee Straw, an undergraduate student from the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, is working with Dr. Gosia Chwatko to transform Kentucky’s bourbon and agricultural industries. Straw’s project aims to find the most effective composition, production methods, and plant growth viability of nursery pots using distillers’ spent grains and other natural or biodegradable additives.
As Kentucky’s bourbon industry thrives, it generates a large amount of waste. After distillation, the leftover corn, rye, wheat, and barley—known as distillers’ spent grains (DSG)—accumulate in large quantities.
DSG is categorized as hazardous waste due to the negative impacts it can have on the environment, such as large nutritional loading, water acidification, and health concerns for nearby humans and poultry. These grains are commonly used for food to feed livestock and have also been used for fertilizer, but the growth of the bourbon industry cannot keep up with the number of local farms able to take DSG.
At the same time, the agriculture industry produces around 500 million plastic nursery pots each year, and only about 10% are ever recycled. These pots are essential for seed germination, but unfortunately typically end up in landfills where they can persist for hundreds of years.
“Options like this that involve upcycling waste into innovative products are extremely helpful for our environment,” said Straw. “This is a long-term solution if we can get it in the market.”
