How Can We Reduce Waste In The Coffee Industry

The third wave of coffee is not only great coffee itself but also ethical in the coffee industry. Specialty coffee focuses on tracing the source. We can help coffee-producing countries by purchasing every cup of delicious coffee.

But it turns out that the process of growing coffee is not very environmentally friendly. In fact, coffee brings a lot of water pollution, destroys water sources in coffee-producing countries, and causes loss of interest of producers.

According to the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA), the wastewater from the wet processing of coffee is 40 times higher than the average wastewater consumed by the average city. This level of waste has a huge impact.

Fortunately, this is not the only case. More and more reuse can be applied to coffee by-products. This means that coffee can not only protect the environment but also bring economic growth. Why not? Roaster Coffees helps you brew better at home.

Waste in coffee farming

So why is coffee farming unfriendly to the environment?

Let's think about the structure of coffee fruit, pulp, pectin layer, sheepskin layer, silver skin, and coffee beans. In order to get the innermost layer of coffee beans, everyone usually discards the outer four layers of substances, and it is best not to have them.

Many coffee-producing countries are low-income countries, and this is a major issue. Often they are unable to handle this wasted water and dump wastewater, causing water pollution.

Wait, when will the water be used?

This problem is often faced in the washing process. The coffee berries are treated with water and soaked in water. At this stage, the pectin layer will be detached, and the remaining substances of the coffee berries will be detached. These substances will remain in the water, and the water will retain the nutrients of the fruit to optimize the water.

Optimization is the enrichment of excess nutrients in lakes or any water, which tends to occur in farming areas. The process of optimization results in excess organic matter, such as algae, leading to a lack of oxygen in the water.

The environmental protection agency studied the optimization of rivers in Ethiopia and found that the oxygen content in the downstream water of the river next to the coffee plantation is obviously insufficient, while the nitrogen content is increasing, which will cause harm to human health.

How do coffee producers use the residue?

However, these discarded fruit residues are more useful than we thought. Research by Habtamu Lemma Didanna of Wolaita Sodo University in Ethiopia found that coffee pulp is a very valuable resource for farmers in particular. Didanna found that coffee pulp can replace feeding. Cattle up to 20% commercial feed, and its nutrient content and the effect of increasing cattle body weight is not different from the feed. These can save up to 30% on the cost of animal feed, representing the great agricultural economic potential of coffee pulp in coffee-growing countries.

And coffee pulp doesn't just benefit cattle farmers. After drying and partial fermentation, the coffee pulp is a good fertilizer for mushroom growth. Mushrooms like shiitake often take months to grow, but only a few weeks with the help of coffee by-products, giving farmers a second good source of income; according to the website New Agriculturist, Tanzania's Coffee producers increase their income by growing economically valuable mushrooms, which can grow and harvest year-round due to the rapid growth of mushrooms with the aid of coffee pulp. Proceeds from these sales have helped them set up an education fund and expand the lands of livestock farmers.

How to reduce coffee residue at home?

Coffee lovers in non-coffee-producing countries may not be able to get their coffee by-products from the estate, but that doesn't mean we can't do anything. We can grow our own mushrooms. Yes, people who live in the city can do it too. Mushrooms are great for windowsill gardening, and many independent coffee shops are starting to use coffee grounds for them, such as WoodFruit, a company that specializes in growing mushrooms.

For industrial use, London-based Bio-Bean has developed technology to turn coffee grounds into advanced biomass fuels, such as "biomass pellet fuel". They claim that biomass fuel can be used as an energy source to drive vehicles, and biomass pellet fuel can increase indoor and store temperatures. In fact, they hope that one day their biomass pellets will even use coffee grounds to raise the temperature inside certain stores.

The potential power of Bio-Bean is amazing, not only to provide an environmentally friendly way to warm up but also to drastically reduce the amount of coffee residue in London. It is speculated that Bio-Bean should be able to reuse 30,000 tons of coffee waste in the city of London. From the analysis point of view, the estimated 200,000 tons of coffee residues in London, we are only talking about a 15% reduction in residues, and this is only from coffee grounds.

What will we do with coffee residues in the future?

From then to now, coffee lovers examine the issue of wasting coffee, and change is about to happen. With the rise of companies like Bio-Bean and the growing body of research into coffee by-products, there seems to be no unreasonable advice. In the not too distant future, we may see coffee shops and coffee producers turn their coffee grounds away. Make the best use of it.

Excited? So coffee lovers, grab our coffee grounds and recycle them now!

Welcome to roastercoffees.com to get more about coffee and brew more delicious coffee at home.