It's the most popular drink worldwide. According to the British Coffee Association, approximately two billion cups of coffee are consumed every day. But after the beans have been picked, roasted and brewed¹, the grounds are often disposed of as waste. With the environment and resource consumption such hot topics at the moment, wouldn't it be great if we could reuse this waste to make something useful? Well, you can.

 

The company OCHIS manufactures sunglasses. Max Havrylenko, founder² of the company, was searching for an alternative substance to plastic. He wanted to 'solve the problem of plastic use and overconsumption', he told the BBC. OCHIS fuses the grounds with vegetable oils, forming a bond. These are pressed into plates which are durable³ and flexible. These are then cut into the arms and frames of the glasses. "Don't worry," he says, "They won't dissolve in the rain."

 

Rosalie McMillan, a London jeweller, uses recycled coffee grounds along with gold and silver to make handcrafted jewellery. She mixes the coffee with oils and subjects it to heat and pressure to create a compound she calls 'Çurface'. Her website claims it has a 'beautiful surface quality and texture⁴' with similar properties to hardwood. 

 

What about a coffee cup made from them? Kaffeeform is a German-based company that transforms used grounds and renewable plant-based raw materials into a durable composite. This is shaped into a variety of containers and polished and finished, ready to be sold. So, you can drink your coffee from a cup made of coffee.

 

And it doesn't stop there. Even without a factory, you can make use of coffee grounds. They make excellent fertiliser. You can exfoliate with them, or mix them with water to make a sepia-toned paint. And the list goes on. So next time you finish your morning cup, save the grounds.

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