Hyundai Steel is striving to promote the use of coffee waste in our society and improve awareness on resource recovery.

Did you know that the coffee residue (hereafter coffee waste) we are left with after extracting coffee can become a new type of resource? Only 0.2% of coffee beans are used for a cup of Americano. The rest, 99.8%, is thrown away as coffee waste. The remaining coffee waste is thrown out as regular domestic waste, but it’s actually an organic resource with a high recycling value.

Many countries are already recycling coffee waste in various ways. The U.K. startup ‘Bio-bean’ developed an eco-friendly fuel with the U.K. government and a global petrol corporate using coffee waste, and it’s been in use as part of London city’s double decker bus fuel since November 2017. Ukraine made headlines when it produced a pair of sunglasses made from coffee waste. Compared to such cases, South Korea has seen the limited use of coffee waste resource recovery to fuel and compost, etc. To improve such situation, Hyundai Steel began its coffee waste resource recovery project and is widening the use of coffee waste. It has also created a resource circulation ecosystem where coffee waste goes through resource recovery within the area it is collected from and is creating social and environmental values at the same time.

Looking for the purpose of a new resource, coffee waste

Businesses that will develop coffee waste resource recovery products and services are selected through a contest, and those selected carry out the project using coffee waste collected in Incheon city. (photography source. Coffee Waste Resource Recovery Project homepage www.coffeebak.kr)

With Korea Productivity Center and Korea Green Foundation, Hyundai Steel is carrying out the Coffee Waste Resource Recovery Project under the slogan ‘Coffee waste is a resource. Let’s find purposes for coffee waste’. Trial collection was carried out with 62 cafes participating from Gyeyang-gu, Bupyeong-gu, and Yeonsu-gu in Incheon city. In September 2019, a private-government coffee waste collection cooperation system was established through an MOU between the Ministry of Environment and Jung-gu and Michuhol-gu, etc., of Incheon city. Collected coffee waste is to be utilized for social venture goods and services development for businesses selected through a contest. Hyundai Steel is striving to discover and support social ventures with great ideas to create a sustainable resource recovery industry. What businesses were chosen through the resource recovery contest this time? Here are some of the chosen businesses’ admirable eco-friendly ideas.

100% coffee waste clay, totally harmless to human body

Coffee waste clay production machine can create various resource recovery products. (photography source. coffee cube official homepage)

You can make clay out of coffee waste and form it to make something else. This is the idea from a social venture selected from this contest, Coffee Cube (www.coffeecube.co.kr). Coffee Cube has a patent on processing shaped articles made from coffee waste; it develops and sells a machine that can manufacture 100% natural coffee waste clay from coffee waste. Since this clay is made from food product, it’s so clean that you can even eat it. They produce various eco-friendly goods including coffee waste broken bricks, pots, pencils, etc. Above all, it plans to produce goods in relations to a rehabilitation center located in Incheon city. They will create jobs for the social minority such as the disabled and the elderly, etc., and use discarded coffee waste for resource recovery. It’s a great idea to create social and environmental values simultaneously.

Coffee waste elastic packaging, used for running tracks and children’s playgrounds

Coffee waste elastic packaging can create a cleaner, safer sports area.

You may have seen soft flooring on children’s playgrounds, running tracks, walking trails, etc. This is called elastic packaging; it alleviates the fatigue people feel when they walk and protects the joints in your body. You can even make this elastic packaging with coffee waste. Tranit (www.tranit.co.kr), a company that manufactures automobile components and sports goods, etc., suggested an idea of developing an eco-friendly elastic packaging with coffee waste. It will be lighter than the existing one which will make the construction easier, and it will be designed to have a greater insulation function to keep the floor temperature even. Also, harmful substances that are included in the existing flooring like rubber will be replaced with coffee waste, which will contribute to protecting the environment. They say that coffee waste elastic packaging can be adapted to produce coffee waste car seats as well. We look forward to Tranit’s limitless eco-friendly ideas.

Coffee waste toys that develop kids’ imagination

Coffee waste toys can help developing kids’ imagination and scientific knowledge.

An idea from college students was chosen from the contest this time. 5 Sookmyung Women’s University students proposed ‘Coffeesaurus’ project, an educational toy kit that recycles coffee waste. They suggested a method that can take care of not only coffee waste resource recovery but also creating jobs for the elderly.

The starting item for the ‘Coffeesaurus’ business is a dinosaur fossil discovery kit. Coffee waste resource recovery was connected to the recent scale of educational toy market and the current increase in eco-friendly toy market demand. The dinosaur fossil discovery kit is a toy that involves breaking in the stratum model made from coffee waste with a tool to discover dinosaur bones and assembling them. Through this fossil discovery game, kids will gain scientific knowledge. It’s a great idea that thinks of children and the elderly, as well as the environment all at the same time.

A coffee waste plant growing kit for children

Children can grow their plants easily using a plant growing kit made from coffee waste, a great fertilizer.

Coffee waste can also be used as a great compost because it is full of nutrients like nitrogen, protein, minerals, etc. and doesn’t smell bad. It acts just like a regular fertilizer and is convenient to use. A startup in preparation, Seed Letter, makes use of this point and has developed an eco-friendly plant growing kit for children. It fulfills the consumer needs for an eco-friendly product and helps children to develop their creativity. Seed Letters’ eco-friendly plant growing kit is consisted of plant-form puzzles for a child to complete. The puzzle pieces are made from coffee waste, plant seeds and viscous clay. As the coffee waste in the puzzle piece acts like a natural fertilizer, you won’t need artificial compost or nutrients when you grow plants. Children can assemble the puzzles and also learn about the eco-friendly values of the coffee waste plant growing kit.

Coffee waste can be used in our everyday lives in various ways. (photography source. Coffee Waste Resource Recovery Project homepage www.coffeebak.kr)

So far, we have looked into the ideas from businesses selected through Hyundai Steel’s Coffee Waste Resource Recovery Project contest. We could see that coffee waste can be widely used in our everyday lives than we expect it to be. Why is Hyundai Steel paying so much attention and interest in the Coffee Waste Resource Recovery Project? Coffee waste can be used for many purposes, but when they are not recycled and buried or incinerated, they create a huge amount of greenhouse gases like methane, etc. Methane creates 34 times greater greenhouse effect than CO2 and pollutes the environment. Recycling coffee waste would surely be a way to protect our Earth. Hyundai Steel’s passion to protect the Earth and our lives will continue with the Coffee Waste Resource Recovery Project and many other things.