An effective approach for the management of waste coffee grounds

In recent years the disposal of organic wastes from domestic, commercial, agricultural and industrial sources have caused concerns due to the environmental and economic problems associated with waste. The waste produced particularly in urban areas represents a huge cost for cities and a burden to the environment but, at the same time, represents an opportunity to take stock of valuable resources, which can be exploited. By boosting solutions to reduce waste and promoting its use as a resource the natural and living environment in urban areas can be enhanced. Cities are complex systems similar to living organisms that use energy, air, water and nutrients and need to dispose of waste in a sustainable way. By adopting an urban metabolism perspective cities can open the way for innovative and systematic approaches, which involve the analysis and use of resource-flows. Waste coffee grounds represent an under-utilised high nutrient material with potential to be exploited. Coffee is regarded as the highest consumed beverage in the developed world, and is the second most traded commodity in the world after oil. This paper will present research findings for an effective approach for the management of waste coffee grounds. This is achieved through examining an alternative approach of resource recovery and sustainable waste management practices for waste coffee grounds. It will also use a case study to examine the potential for waste coffee grounds to promote an ecological rethinking of nutrient flows.

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