UK based company bio bean’s Product Development and Technology team has taken a step towards scaling up its work, within a project the company is part of, called the Horizon 2020 WaysTUP!
In a press release in mid-November, the company announced its participation in the EU funded pilot project. Describing it in cringing management terms, they said the project would,
Demonstrate the establishment of new value chains for the use of urban biowaste, through a multi-stakeholder approach in line with a circular economy
Although we couldn’t understand what that meant, the company, fortunately, added some detail. According to bio-bean, spent coffee grounds have up to 20% oil content, which could be used as a sustainable material. The company’s work in the project is focusing on the use of this residual oil to create sustainable bioplastic. Its plan is to collect spent coffee grounds from UK businesses, process the grounds and extract the oil, before shipping to its partner, Nafigate, who will prep the oil to be incorporated into a biodegradable food wrapping.
Bio bean’s Product Development and Technology team, currently in France, took a big step in the process when they started using a facility specialised in a clean, sustainable extraction method, to maximise the volume of oil that can be procured. With this facility, bio bean’s data scientists will be able to model the economics of a highly-scaled, coffee oil extraction.
