Coffee Grounds - Turning Waste into 'Green Magic' for Clean Energy and Eco-Friendly Products

Once seen as worthless, coffee grounds are emerging as green "magic" in reducing pollution and replacing unsustainable resources. New solutions derived from coffee grounds are providing sustainable paths for multiple industries, including food, cosmetics, and clean energy. This week, Innovations of The Week highlights four exciting eco-friendly solutions crafted from coffee grounds.

1. Bio-oil from Coffee Grounds

Revive Eco, a UK-based startup, has pioneered a breakthrough solution for repurposing coffee grounds by recycling them into a sustainable palm oil alternative. As one of the leading startups in the field of biological recycling, Revive Eco is making significant strides in transforming the food, beverage, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries by reducing palm oil usage—a resource with severe environmental impacts on tropical forests.

For years, palm oil has been an essential ingredient in many consumer products. However, its production is closely linked to deforestation, biodiversity loss, and high carbon emissions. Revive Eco recognized this challenge and innovatively replaced palm oil with a more sustainable material—coffee grounds. Through their proprietary technology, this startup collects coffee grounds from cafes and food establishments and then recycles them into oil suitable for multiple industries. This process not only repurposes coffee grounds, a prevalent organic waste but also helps reduce carbon emissions associated with palm oil production and consumption.

Revive Eco's recycled coffee oil is widely applicable across food, beverage, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical sectors, meeting the demands of the sustainable consumer market. Beyond its environmental benefits, this coffee-based oil boasts high stability and valuable compounds, providing additional advantages over traditional palm oil. According to Revive Eco's founding team, their goal is to build a sustainable business model that not only protects the environment but also scales organic waste collection and recycling efforts, positioning Scotland as a leader in green recycling.

With significant growth potential, Vietnam could adopt Revive Eco's model to advance a circular economy. As one of the world's largest coffee consumers, Vietnam produces an enormous amount of coffee grounds annually. Leveraging these grounds to produce palm oil substitutes and develop a recycling ecosystem would empower Vietnamese businesses to enhance their international competitiveness while contributing to global forest and ecosystem conservation. Investing in recycling technology and building a sustainable supply chain will be a vital step for Vietnam's food, beverage, and cosmetics industries in the long run.

2. Coffee Cups Made from Coffee Grounds

Coffee Kreis, a U.S. startup, is pioneering the use of coffee grounds—a standard waste product in the food and beverage industry—to produce reusable cups, replacing single-use plastic products. Aiming to reduce plastic waste, Kreis Cup has developed environmentally friendly, reusable cups that make a significant contribution to protecting the planet and fostering sustainable lifestyles.

The Kreis Cup is made from a blend of coffee grounds and other bio-based materials, offering sustainability alongside durability and high insulation capabilities. This solution is ideal for cafes and consumers who favour sustainable products. Unlike traditional disposable plastic cups, Kreis Cups are designed for multiple uses, helping reduce plastic pollution and solid waste.

According to the Kreis Cup founding team, using coffee grounds not only repurposes organic waste but also creates a circular production cycle, turning waste into valuable products. This approach benefits the environment while promoting sustainability awareness in the community, especially as reusable consumer products become increasingly prioritized.

Vietnam, as one of the largest coffee producers and consumers globally, has significant potential to adopt a similar model. By utilizing its vast annual supply of coffee grounds, Vietnamese businesses can produce reusable products like coffee cups, serving the food and beverage industry. This presents an opportunity not only to develop eco-friendly products but also to enhance brand value and align with the globally growing trend of sustainable consumption.

Shifting to coffee ground-based recycled products will help Vietnam's consumer industry reduce plastic pollution, boost international competitiveness, and make a positive contribution to global sustainable development goals.

3. Coffee Grounds as Biofuel

Bio-bean, a UK-based startup, has developed an innovative solution to convert coffee grounds—a standard waste product of the coffee industry—into biofuel, such as pellets and liquid fuel for heating systems and industrial applications. Bio-bean aims to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and promote clean energy sources, helping to reduce environmental pollution and carbon emissions.

Bio-bean's initiative harnesses renewable resources from coffee grounds to produce bio-pellets (coffee logs) used for heating, providing a sustainable alternative to coal and other non-renewable fuels. Additionally, Bio-Bean produces liquid biofuel, which can be used for industrial heaters and applications requiring a steady energy source. According to Bio-bean's founding team, this process not only manages a large amount of coffee waste but also reduces emissions from fossil fuels, delivering a dual benefit for both the environment and the circular economy.

Transforming coffee grounds into biofuel also helps lower greenhouse gasses generated by landfill waste, where coffee grounds release methane—a greenhouse gas significantly more impactful than CO2. Bio-bean collaborates with cafes and food processing establishments to collect coffee grounds, establishing a closed-loop supply chain that minimizes waste and promotes green production.

With significant recycling potential, Vietnam could also adopt Bio-bean's model given its high coffee consumption and abundant coffee grounds. Local businesses could develop biofuel products from coffee grounds for domestic and export markets. This would not only help reduce organic waste but also create opportunities for clean, sustainable energy, bringing Vietnam closer to sustainable development goals and carbon reduction.

Investing in biofuel production technology from coffee grounds will help Vietnam's energy industry reduce dependency on coal and other fossil fuels while opening up a new, promising market niche for domestic companies.

4. Eco-Friendly Fiber from Coffee Grounds

Faslink, a standout sustainable fashion brand in Vietnam, is revolutionizing the textile industry by using advanced technology to produce fiber from coffee grounds. Partnering with Taiwan's leading textile tech company Singtex, Faslink developed S.Café fibre, a material with exceptional properties like odour control, UV protection, and reduced resource consumption. This breakthrough not only meets consumer demand for green fashion but also significantly cuts down organic coffee waste, supporting a circular economy.

The S.Café fiber reduces carbon emissions by up to 50%, saves 30% in energy, and cuts water use by 70% compared to traditional fiber production. These superior features offer users an eco-friendly fashion experience, ideal for athletic and outdoor wear. Since its 2017 launch, top Vietnamese brands like Owen, Yody, and Coolmate have adopted S.Café, creating a green supply chain and making sustainable fashion more accessible to domestic consumers.

This innovation is noteworthy for its resource efficiency and reduction of coffee waste—a common organic byproduct. Faslink not only reuses coffee grounds but also optimizes production processes to maximize resource efficiency, delivering high-value products to the market. The use of coffee grounds in fiber production is crucial as the global fashion industry faces growing pressure to find sustainable, environmentally friendly solutions. Currently, around 70% of Vietnam's textile manufacturers rely on imported raw materials, with nearly half used in products for export.

With immense growth potential in sustainable fashion, Faslink has solidified its role as a pioneer in Vietnam's green supply chain. This not only strengthens its competitive edge but also opens new doors for Vietnam's fashion industry to enter international markets. As global consumers increasingly prioritize eco-friendly products, sustainable innovations like S.Café fiber are key to elevating domestic fashion and contributing to the global sustainable fashion movement.

Faslink's investment in recycling technology and utilizing coffee grounds for eco-friendly fashion products is a prime example of a commitment to sustainable development, positioning Vietnam as a leading force in the sustainable fashion sector in the region and beyond.