Belgians have a passion for coffee, consuming an average of 800 cups per person per year, making us the 8th largest coffee consumer in the world. However, shockingly, only 1% of the coffee we brew is actually used, with the remaining 99% ending up as waste. This adds up to a staggering 67,000 tonnes of coffee grounds discarded each year, which is equivalent to the weight of 28 Atomium structures.
Globally, the problem is even more severe, with approximately 18 million tonnes of coffee grounds wasted each year. And the environmental impact is significant: processing just one kilogram of coffee grounds as waste generates 775 grams of CO2 emissions, which is equivalent to a car travelling 7 kilometers. In Belgium alone, processing the 67,000 tonnes of coffee grounds annually results in a staggering 52 million kilograms of CO2 emissions per year.
But there’s hope. At Grounds Up, we believe in the potential of coffee grounds. We’re committed to finding innovative ways to transform this waste into a valuable resource for different industries, creating maximum value and minimizing our environmental impact. Join us on this journey to turn coffee waste into a force for good!
At Grounds Up, we’re committed to finding new ways to transform coffee waste into valuable resources for different industries. By upcycling, which involves turning waste into high-quality materials or products, we aim to create as much value as possible.
Coffee grounds are collected from coffee hotspots such as coffee houses, cafés, restaurants and businesses.
The coffee grounds are decontaminated and dried. This ensures a stable resource that functions as our base raw material.
Valuable substances are extracted from the coffee grounds for use in new products.
The extraction of coffee grounds creates two new raw materials: coffee oil and press cake.
The raw materials, coffee oil and press cake, are processed into semi-finished products.
The semi-finished products can be processed into a very large number of finished products.
Coffee grounds are collected from coffee hotspots such as coffee houses, cafés, restaurants and businesses.
The coffee grounds are decontaminated and dried. This ensures a stable resource that functions as our base raw material.
Valuable substances are extracted from the coffee grounds for use in new products.
The extraction of coffee grounds creates two new raw materials: coffee oil and press cake.
The raw materials, coffee oil and press cake, are processed into semi-finished products.
The semi-finished products can be processed into a very large number of finished products.
At Grounds Up, we’re committed to finding new ways to transform coffee waste into valuable resources for different industries. By upcycling, which involves turning waste into high-quality materials or products, we aim to create as much value as possible.
We’re constantly exploring new and innovative ways to upcycle coffee waste into valuable raw materials, semifinished or finished products. Spent coffee grounds have already been used to create a wide range of products, from bioplastics and cosmetics to biofuels and building materials.
But we believe that this is just the beginning. As we continue to experiment and develop new upcycling processes, we’re discovering even more potential applications for coffee waste. Do you have a new idea or want to start a project? Hit us up!
Grounds Up created reusable coffee cups based on coffee grounds for our customer Izy Coffee. Interested in your own cups with your own logo? Hit us up!
We’ve developed a compound that can be used for injection moulding. Seeing the potential for this in your own products? Hit us up!
Would you like to use coffee grounds to develop a (new) application? Contact us and discover the endless possibilities of coffee grounds.
Pledge with your organization to not throw away your spent coffee grounds! Join our community of Grounds Heroes.
Would you like to use coffee grounds to develop a (new) application? Contact us and discover the endless possibilities of coffee grounds.
Pledge with your organization to not throw away your spent coffee grounds! Join our community of Grounds Heroes.
We are committed to contributing to a more sustainable future by transforming a once-discarded resource into a valuable raw material, reducing the burden on the environment.
GroundsUp is a Belgian start-up with a clear mission: to become the world’s leading coffee grounds upcycling company. Our goal is to create maximum value for various industries, including bioplastics, building, cosmetics, food, agriculture, wax, and purification industries, by upcycling coffee grounds that would otherwise go to waste.
We are committed to contributing to a more sustainable future by transforming a once-discarded resource into a valuable raw material, reducing the burden on the environment.
Subscribe using the form below and we will notify you as soon as Grounds Heroes is launched