Problem:

A half a billion tonnes of used coffee grounds are dumped into general waste and sent to landfill where they emit the greenhouse gas methane.

Solution:

Turn those grounds into useful things like logs that can be burned in domestic wood burners and multi-fuel stoves.

The world population drinks over 2.25 billion cups of coffee every day. With an estimated average of 11 grams of fresh ground coffee going into each cup, that adds up to an estimated 500,000 tonnes of  old coffee grounds.

While low volumes of spent coffee grounds are good for fertilising domestic gardens, until the past few years, spent coffee grounds have been largely overlooked as a valid, sustainable resource on an industrial scale.

Founded in 2012, Bio-Bean Ltd. in Huntingdon, UK has developed a solution to collect thousands of tons of spent coffee grounds from businesses at every scale, from leading coffee chains and large transport hubs to office buildings, instant coffee manufacturers, restaurants and small independent cafés. It then converts them into sustainable biomass pellets.

In 2016 Bio-Bean launched their first consumer retail product, Coffee Logs, and are now poised to launch their first natural flavouring ingredient into the food and beverage industry.

Discover solution 42: the marvel of sargassum

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