Reuse of coffee waste

If you are one of those who prepare coffee at home, the remains of the coffee used will inevitably remain in the filter of your coffee maker. The same happens in coffee shops, where the waste is greater and is generated every day. Not to mention the large instant coffee processing companies, where coffee remains are counted by tons.

Currently, most people and coffee shops do not take full advantage of this waste. This caught the attention of Michelle Colmenares Muñoz, a specialist in coffee shop sales and management, who is working on a project to raise awareness about the reuse of coffee waste.

In this article, we interview Michelle who offers information on what you can do to recycle coffee waste and thus continue to enjoy its advantages.

This is why I see how the residues from the pulp of the cherry and the husk of the parchment coffee return it to nature in the form of compost and year after year they use it for planting and planting in coffee plantations.

I realized that in coffee shops and our homes when we drink coffee, we also generate a residue that cannot be reused in coffee plantations, but we can give it different uses and thus contribute to the environment through proper reuse.

E According to your experience, what other uses could you give coffee?
a) Scrub.
b) Mask.
c) Essence.
d) Coffee candles.
e) Soaps.
f) Compost, among others.

In addition to being a beverage with many benefits for our body, coffee, after its preparation, can also be used for our external benefit. As is the case with masks, scrubs and other beauty tricks.

You can take advantage of its essential oils for the preparation of incenses, flavorings or candles.

And among the everyday uses that we can give at home is as a deodorizing agent of the internal pipes, of our cupboards and my favorite, against the bad odors of the refrigerator, as well as compost or compost for our plants.

E With your sales experience and as a cafeteria manager … What processes could be implemented within a cafeteria to ensure the responsible handling of coffee waste and its reuse?
Following the rules of hygiene and sanitation, food waste must be separated according to its degradation, which is why in addition to the common knock box used by baristas, a container that can be covered tightly and store the waste or waste can be implemented of everyday coffee.

Nowadays it is easy to contact ecological or entrepreneurial companies, of compost or organic fertilizer that are willing to use these wastes, it is enough to agree, store it well and establish a day a week to go for it.

E Do you consider it important to spread the coffee culture (especially in the places where it is produced) to create a sense of pride and belonging?
I believe that we can make the coffee culture cease to be linear and become a circle where each link can complement the other.

Starting with the correct information and history of coffee, from the plantation, the production, continuing with the commerce, the consumption in a cup and finally the suitable use of its residues.

That each part, especially the final consumer, can know the process, the art and the passion that comes with the preparation of such a majestic drink.