Coffee waste, saving face - 25th March 2022

Ever thought what happens to the mounds of used ground coffee beans after your morning brew?

It's standard practice for the by-product to end up in landfills. Nevertheless, in London, a pair of entrepreneurial siblings launched their new wasteless business called UpCircle which is alleviating coffee shops of this costly practice by reusing their used coffee grounds.

In London alone, UpCircle retrieves as much as 100 kilogrammes of coffee grounds by bike daily. This goes to their factory and is then blended with other all-natural ingredients such as ground olive stones and camomile infusions.

Co-founder, Anna Brightman hopes other companies will take a page out of their book and go zero waste.

Anna Brightman: "I think the younger audience even more so, obvious, for obvious reasons, than the older generation are concerned about the future of our planet. And we cannot continue to take a linear approach. This really has to be the way forwards and if we can prove that it can be done in the beauty industry, then we're really hopeful as a brand that we can inspire more businesses and individuals to take this approach in their lives generally."

Renowned cosmetic formulator Barbara Scott-Atkinson formulates products for UpCircle. She confirms the suitability of used coffee grounds.

Barbara Scott-Atkinson: "Interestingly enough, it's a more interesting and versatile ingredient to use in, as a waste product. And in part, because it's been through that process, it's been heated and it's slightly damp, I mean you'll see from looking at the coffee. And actually that makes it more suitable to use in skincare."

UpCircle's zero waste business model has struck a chord with other businesses which has resulted in an influx of a variety of by-products, from the faded flowers of florists to the extracted water from concentrated juice producers being offered.

But UpCircle isn't a lone wolf in the zero waste business, designers are also turning trash into treasure.

Here's Gemma Curtin who curated the Waste Age exhibition at London's Design Museum.

Gemma Curtin: "So, there are designers in Poland looking at sugar beet waste, in Japan looking at rice husk waste, in in Mexico looking at waste from corn husks. So, people are looking at the waste that's around them. And designers are thinking, what can we do with that? How can we help the environment by using these materials?"