2.5 billion cups of coffee are consumed every day around the world, creating 18 million tons of waste that mostly goes to landfill sites. In the UK alone, we drink 95 million of those coffees, and according to bio-bean, that represents an untapped opportunity to recycle a product that the potential to be recycled in a number of useful aways.
bio-bean has launched Inficaf, a new sustainable raw product made from upcycled spent coffee grounds. Versatility is one of the main features of this new product — adaptable to various industries’ uses, including cosmetics, textiles, bioplastics and automotive friction.
The company cites one example:
“We also recycle the spent grounds into Coffee Logs: sustainable fire logs for use in domestic wood-burning and multi-fuel stoves. The logs provide an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional solid fuels, and by recycling spent coffee grounds in this way, we save 80% on CO2e emissions compared to the grounds being sent to landfill, and 70% compared to the grounds being sent to an anaerobic digestion facility.”
This British company has industrialised the process of recycling waste coffee grounds into various other uses including advanced biofuels and biomass pellets. The team behind bio-bean is constantly innovating through coffee waste to create impactful, sustainable change.
With Inficaf, spent coffee grounds — which are usually sent to landfills — are collected from UK businesses. To transport the coffee waste, bio-bean uses existing logistic transport routes instead of having their own transportation, to reduce gas emission. The grounds are then processed, dried, sieved and packed as its new sustainable product.
The company stated:
Inficaf’s ‘versatility’ enables product developers, designers, and manufacturers around the world, to lead in their category by incorporating ‘a truly sustainable raw material’ which helps to reduce waste, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Costa Coffee, a large chain of coffee shops, has just re-committed a further 2 years to work with bio bean. The original partnership started in 2016, and the company sees the renewal as an endorsement of their strategy.
What makes Inficaf versatile and adaptable in use, is its consistent particle size, moisture content and bulk density. It can be used as an exfoliant in cosmetics and skincare products, printing inks or fibres in textiles, and filler for plant-based polymers.
