Coffee Upcycling
Turn Coffee Grounds into New Resources
Coffee is one of the beverages consumed around the world and many people drink it once per day. The spent coffee grounds is a by-product from the brewing process of coffee but Hong Kong only a few organization would collect and recycle the coffee grounds that means most of the coffee grounds end up in landfill which caused the resources waste. In fact, coffee grounds can be one of the raw materials to replace the use of other resources through upcycling and creativity. Recycled coffee grounds also can reduce the environmental burdens and carbon footprints.
From Coffee Grounds to Raw Material
In Hong Kong, Eco-Greenergy has launched the "Zero Grounds Coffee Campaign", which collecting and upcycling them into a series of "Coffee NEXT" products, including soap, flowerpots, recycled tableware and etc. Some of the recycled coffee grounds will be fermented into compost to reduce waste. It turns waste to be resources.
From Coffee Grounds to Construction Material
The local construction company in Colombia using the waste coffee husks and other waste from the coffee production process, turning into prefabricated blocks used for construction. The blocks do not use any specialized training or tools that build the affordable and eco-friendly housing for the communities, which reduce the construction cost and much sustainable.
From Coffee Grounds to Concrete
The researcher offers a new solution to reduce the use of the resources because of after water, sand is the most extracted mineral and limited resources in the world. It is used to produce concrete, glass, and many other essential construction materials that causing the world’s sand supplies to be diminishing. Therefore, the researcher using the coffee grounds to replace a natural resource in concrete, sand. The team found they could replace up to 10% of the sand with coffee grounds while safely preserving the concrete’s integrity, which solves the environmental impacts and towards sustainability.
Coffee grounds have many useful ways when you have a creative, which turn waste into resources. We believe that every item has a value of reuse, recycle and upcycle, and to be value-added products.
Reference
Concrete jungle: Turning coffee into concrete (2020). Retrieved from BeanScene, Web site: https://www.beanscenemag.com.au/concrete-jungle-turning-coffee-into-concrete/
Tesler, F. (2021). Colombian construction company creates affordable homes using coffee waste. Retrieved from dezeen, Web site: https://www.dezeen.com/2021/05/14/coffee-houses-construction-affordable-homes-video/?li_source=LI&li_medium=rhs_block_1
Zero Grounds Coffee Campaign - Coffee Grounds Recycling Service (2021). Retrieved from Eco-Greenergy, Web site: https://www.eco-greenergy.com/pages/zgcc-recycling-service?locale=en