Closed loop supply chains enable carbon reduction and resource circularity in the brewing industry

This study pioneers the quantification of synergistic decarbonization effects from integrated Closed Loop supply chain (CLSC) and circular economy (CE) implementation in industrial brewing. Through precision engineering—including ± 1% flow-controlled wastewater treatment and 96.8% efficient carbon capture—Tsingtao Brewery achieved a 35.7% reduction in operational GHG intensity (Scope 1 and 2) and 8% water savings per unit output. The model’s replicability stems from three innovations: (1) Biomass recovery (5–8 kg/1000 L beer) from hot break for organic fertilizer, (2) Industrial-grade CO2 recycling during fermentation (diverting 11,048 tCO2-eq annually), (3) Policy-enabled packaging loops sustaining 90% glass reuse. Life cycle assessment identifies raw material procurement (42% of emissions) and aluminum packaging (10.12 kg CO2-eq/kg) as critical hotspots, with barley cultivation emissions exhibiting high variability (0.19–0.79 kg CO2-eq/kg; Monte Carlo uncertainty: ± 32%). Cross-industry benchmarking confirms Tsingtao’s carbon intensity (6.26 kg CO2-eq/kL) outperforms global averages (9.20 kg CO2-eq/kL) yet lags in aluminum recovery (26.7% vs. 35% sector leaders). We establish that Extended Producer Responsibility frameworks must extend upstream to agriculture to consolidate these gains, providing a transferable blueprint for achieving China’s dual carbon targets in resource-intensive sectors.