Two students from the Technical University of Munich have founded an innovative start-up that converts hop waste into sustainable building materials. The inspiration came in 2022, when they were talking about using banana fibers for building materials in Colombia over beers in their dorm room. The students, Marlene Stechl and Thomas Rojas Sonderegger, thought about using local resources and proposed using hop waste, a product that is abundant in Bavaria.
Within months of this conversation, they launched their start-up, called HopfON. The company focuses on converting the leftovers of the hop harvest – such as leaves, stems and vines – into useful products such as acoustic panels, thermal insulation and building boards. The aim is to reduce waste in both the construction and beer industries by using the leftover biomass after the hop harvest.
Hop waste is a major problem in the German Hallertau region, the largest hop growing area in the world. For every kilogram of hops used to brew beer, 3,5 kilograms of waste remains. Although some of this waste can be used for fertilizers or biogas, most of it remains unusable and leads to environmental problems such as greenhouse gas emissions.
HopfON wants to tackle this problem by using a circular production model. Customers can return their used products so that they can be reprocessed into new materials. The start-up has already secured its first customer: a coworking space in Mannheim that uses their acoustic panels.
In addition to HopfON, the Society of Hop Research in Hüll is also working on a solution to the waste problem. Researchers have developed new hop varieties that produce less waste without affecting the quality of the hops, which is essential for beer brewers.
HopfON is currently scaling up their production and is working on expanding into the use of other organic materials. The company is even considering changing their name to “onmatter” to reflect their broader vision. With their innovative approach, they hope to make a sustainable contribution to both the construction and beer industries.
