Co-funded by the
European Union
From grounds to green: repurposing 100% coffee waste into raw materials and bio-products
Empowering Delta Cafes and PRIO in the coffee circular economy with EcoBean
The challenge
The solution
Delta Cafes and PRIO have entered into a partnership with our portfolio company EcoBean, a Polish-based company that repurposes coffee waste, to trail the collection of spent coffee grounds from Delta coffee sold at PRIO refuelling stations.
EcoBean focuses on sustainable production and high-margin valorisation of coffee waste, and is building the first-of-a-kind plant to process 100% of coffee waste into raw materials and green products. They extract five raw materials from coffee waste:
- Coffee oil for use as a biodiesel additive or in the cosmetics industry
- Antioxidants for the food, cosmetics, and polymer industries
- Lactic acid, which can be transformed into biodegradable polymers (PLA)
- Protein additives for the food industry
- Coffee lignin which has a range of uses including furniture, car interiors, bioasphalt, adhesives, coating and emulsifier agents.
100% of the collected spent coffee grounds are repurposed by EcoBean into a range of bio-products such as coffee briquettes and pellets (for barbeques and heating purposes), biodegradable flower pots, biodegradable coffee capsules, oils and fragrances.
The next step in the project is to validate the technical feasibility of producing advanced biodiesel, in conjunction with PRIO’s biodiesel plant, from the oil extracted from the collected coffee grounds.
