What Can You Do with Used Coffee?

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 brewed, the grounds are often     1     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, founder of the company, was searching for a(n)     2     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     3     and flexible. These are then cut into the arms and frames of the glasses. “Don’t worry,” he says. “They won’t     4     in the rain.”

Rosalie McMillan, a London jeweller, uses recycled coffee grounds along with gold and silver to make     5     jewellery. She mixes the coffee with oils and     6     it to heat and pressure to create a compound she calls “Curface”. Her website claims it has a “beautiful surface quality and texture” with similar     7     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     8     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     9     excellent fertilizer. You can mix them with water to make a sepia-toned paint. And the     10     goes on. So next time you finish your morning cup, save the grounds.