Brewing Change: 7 Bridges partnering for Circular Economy in Việt Nam

From Brewery to Startup Lab

7 Bridges Brewing Co. was honoured to be invited to join the Southeast Asia Regional Program on Combating Marine Plastics (SEA-MaP) as a Corporate Partner in 2025. Funded by the World Bank and led by GIZ, Start2 Group, and CL2B in Việt Nam, the programme brings together circular innovators, impact-driven startups, and committed partners working to reduce plastic pollution across Southeast Asia.

As part of this initiative, we’ll be supporting and piloting startup-led solutions right here in our own operations - using our brewery and taprooms as testbeds for new ideas. We’re excited to share our experience, learn from others, and collaborate on projects that make a measurable difference.

Where other breweries see waste - we see value. That is the core idea behind the Zero Waste Mission at 7 Bridges.

Why This Matters: Plastic & Sustainability in Việt Nam

Việt Nam faces significant plastic waste challenges. Each year, the country produces approximately 3.9 million tonnes of plastic waste, yet only 33% is recycled. A large share of this waste ends up in waterways and oceans, with estimates suggesting as much as 730,000 tonnes leak into the marine environment annually .

The Vietnamese government has responded with a series of ambitious policies, including bans on certain imports of plastic scrap, the rollout of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations, and soon a ban on single-use plastics in the food and beverage outlets.

SEA-MaP is part of a growing response: connecting stakeholders, sharing knowledge, and backing real-world experiments to help turn Việt Nam’s sustainability goals into reality.

The 7 Bridges Zero Waste Mission

At 7 Bridges, sustainability isn’t a department — it’s a mindset that shapes every part of what we do.

Our Zero Waste Mission is a commitment to finding value where others see waste. It began with small, practical experiments and has grown into a company-wide ethos that affects our kitchens, breweries, packaging, and even cleaning products.

For every 100L of beer brewed, we generate about 20kg of spent grain, a by-product of brewing. Instead of sending it to landfill or livestock feed, we upcycle it into pizza dough, crackers, and condiments. Our team has also developed products like:

• Beer vinegar made from unsellable beer

• Dragon Hot Sauce and Mustard made with the Beer Vinegar

• Brewer’s Spent Grain Crackers

• Soap made from reclaimed cooking oil and beer by-products

You don’t need a factory to close the loop — just a pizza oven, some creativity, and a little spent grain.

This approach closes loops, builds new revenue that can sustain the model, and helps educate our customers — one dish, one bottle, one bite at a time.

Real Circular Projects, Real Partners

SEA-MaP aligns naturally with the our mission. We deeply understand that sustainability means partnering with other innovators to nurture and grow sustainable solutions.

Through this event, we are excited to connect with interesting partners like BUYO Plastic, to turn our brewer's spent grain into biodegradable keg cap, coaster and packaging, replacing virgin plastic options that currently dominates the market and pollutes our environment.

By partnering with circular businesses across Việt Nam, we’ve built a network of collaborators who inspire us to keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.

Why Craft Beer is a Powerful Platform for Change

You might not expect craft beer to be at the forefront of the green economy — but it’s a perfect fit for circularity:

• Brewing generates multiple reusable by-products (grain, yeast, hops)

• Taprooms offer an ideal space to educate and engage customers in person

• Craft breweries are nimble, curious, and embedded in their communities

From upcycled beer to sustainable packaging to reused ingredients, craft beer can be both experimental and impactful — and that’s exactly what Việt Nam’s green transition needs more of.

Circularity You Can Taste all over Vietnam

After attending the SEA-MaP conference in Hà Nội, we hosted a networking event at 7 Bridges Hà Nội Taproom, where participants were invited to taste circularity in action.

Guests gathered on our second floor for pizza made with spent grain from our brewing process — a rich, high-fibre ingredient that gives our dough flavour and texture while reducing food waste. We also served a special “UPcycle Beer” brewed with leftover pizza crusts, recycled hops, and rescued yeast. It’s bold, experimental, and exactly the kind of thinking we need to drive the Vietnam circular economy forward.

This wasn’t just a networking night — it was proof that circular solutions can be delicious.

What’s Next

Over the coming months, we’ll be working with SEA-MaP startups to launch pilot projects inside our brewery — testing new tech, new materials, and new processes that support plastic circularity in real-world conditions.

We’ll share what works, what doesn’t, and how we adapt along the way. Most importantly, we’ll do it transparently, collaboratively, and in the open — because that’s how real sustainability takes root.

Join the Movement

Việt Nam’s shift to a circular economy is already underway — and we’re proud to be a small part of a big change. Whether it’s through a new pilot project, a cracker made from beer, or a lightbox made from recycled plastic, we believe sustainability can be fun, tasty, and tangible.

We’re not just brewing beer. We’re brewing solutions.