CNN —If your morning can’t start without coffee, you’re not alone: globally, we drink over 2 billion cups of coffee each day, leading to 60 million tons of wet, spent coffee grounds every year.
There, like other organic compounds, coffee grounds decompose and release methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at trapping heat.
Now, researchers say coffee grounds could be used as an ingredient in concrete, and they could even make it stronger, according to a recent study.
When the biochar is mixed with concrete, Roychand says, its particles act like tiny water reservoirs, distributed throughout the concrete.
Roychad points out that waste collection is already mainstream, and that a number of companies in Australia are focusing on recycling coffee waste.
Persons:
you’re, ”, Rajeev Roychand, Mohammad Saberian, Shannon Kilmartin, Lynch, Jordan Carter, Carelle Mulawa, “, Kypros, Roychand
Organizations:
CNN, School of Engineering, RMIT University, University of Sheffield
Locations:
Melbourne, Australia