A BREWERY has found a way to transform unwanted bread into beer after research found that U.K. households waste at least 24 million slices of bread a year.

    The Toast Ale brew, which launched Jan. 18, uses one slice of fresh surplus bread from bakeries, delis and other sandwich makers to help brew each bottle.

    According to food waste charity Feedback, the aim of the project is to tackle the “global issue of food waste” until it eventually puts itself “out of business.”

    Tristram Stuart, Feedback founder and creator of the Toast Ale idea, said, “Tackling the global issue of food waste has taken me all over the world.

    “It was at the Brussels Beer Project where I first found out about this innovative brewing process that turns a colossal global problem into a delicious, drinkable solution.

    “We hope to put ourselves out of business. The day there’s no waste bread is the day Toast Ale can no longer exist.”

    The beer, which will be available online at £3 (US$4.29) per bottle from Jan. 28, is being produced by Hackney Brewery in east London.

    It is made by mashing the surplus bread into breadcrumbs before brewing it with malted barley, hops and yeast to make a distinctively flavored ale.

    Celebrity fans of the beer already reportedly include food waste champions Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. All profits will go to Feedback, which aims to halve food waste by 2030, after it reported that 15 millions of tons of food are wasted every year across the U.K.(SD-Agencies)