Fuelled by recycled coffee - 6th July 2020

A biotech company has found a new way to make fuel: by recycling the coffee grounds from our morning cappuccinos.

The UK drinks around 95 million cups of coffee per day, creating half a million tonnes of waste coffee grounds each year. When the grounds break down in landfills, they release harmful greenhouse gases into the air which contributes to global warming.

Bio-bean, a seven-year-old UK-based startup, has found a solution. It recycles used grounds and turns them into solid fuels for household and industrial use. Bio-bean has teamed up with businesses including Costa Coffee, London Stansted Airport, and Network Rail to recycle their used coffee grounds.

These coffee grounds are cleaned to remove any plastic or paper, then passed through a dryer and screening process. Finally, biomass pellets and home fire logs are produced by pressing the new recycled material. Not only do the pellets have a very low moisture content, they also have a high ash melting point which makes them a preferable alternative to traditional wood pellets. They are already being used to replace logs to power some industrial heaters and warm commercial greenhouses.

The coffee-based fuel still releases a small amount of greenhouse gas when burnt. However, the recycling process reduces emissions by up to 80 per cent compared with sending the grounds to landfill.

Even though many coffee shops have been closed due to coronavirus restrictions, Bio-bean has continued to receive grounds from a variety of recycling partners. The company hopes to expand and is planning a European manufacturing plant to bring new products to market.