Sustainability Problem
Globally, 25 million metric tons of coffee waste per year ends up in landfills. Too much landfill waste and high levels of CO2 associated with disposal process.
Technology
Bio-bean recycles landfill-diverted waste coffee grounds into advanced biofuels for the following purposes:
- Heating large buildings (biomass pellets)
- Heating homes (briquettes)
- Powering transit systems (biodiesel)
The advanced biofuels are carbon neutral and help decrease reliance on fossil fuels as well as diverting waste from landfill. Bio-beans are also cost-competitive with mainstream fuel sources.
Stakeholders
- Waste producers: coffee shops/factories, office blocks, restaurants, etc.
- Biofuel consumers: companies, government agencies, individuals
- Waste management companies (coordinated pick up)
Steps to implementation
- Collect data on demand for bio-bean in different towns and regions.
- Create plan to collect waste from consumers through neighborhood associations and partnerships. Implement fees for pick-up and incentivize by giving briquettes and pellets at no additional charge.
- Open additional recycling factories to increase capacity throughout the UK.
Sources
makeasmartcity 
I can get behind anything to do with coffee. I wonder why they specifically chose coffee grounds as opposed to other products (tea, compost etc.). Since this looks like it’s being proposed for London, tea would be an ideal item to be collected, if it also can be turned into biofuels.
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Very interesting, thank you for sharing! Also in the Forbes article, Bio Bean reportedly saves up to 53,200 barrels of oil in a year, which is equal to driving a London double decker bus around the world over 7,000 times! It is a great that Bio Bean saves money on waste disposal. One additional stakeholder that I think could be interesting is fossil fuel providers, since they may be losing business to alternate fuels like Bio Bean. #cak2200
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