MILAN – The Circular Coffee Community is a movement that brings people and industry together in a community that can take the world’s coffee production in a more sustainable direction. The full potential of coffee is actually not being used today. The Circular Coffee Community wants to change that to contribute to a 100 per cent circular production and consumption of coffee, without any waste. Lars Aaen Thøgersen, Chief Innovation and Circular Transformation Officer at Löfbergs, explains how.
The climate changes and the waste of resources are threatening the entire global coffee business, from farmers to consumers. We have to change the way we look at coffee and we need to use all resources throughout value chain. That is why we initiated Circular Coffee Community, where we together with consumers and others in the coffee business drive the development in a more sustainable direction.
Even though many of us like coffee, few actually know how much we can get from the millions of plants and beans that are harvested around the world every day. When brewing a cup of coffee today, we use less than 1 per cent of the nutrients contained by the coffee plant. Our aim is to find new solutions to use 100 per cent of the resources.
In Circular Coffee Community, we invite consumers, customers, scientists and other individuals and organisations to eliminate all waste connected to the production and consumption of coffee. We want to make the entire value chain sustainable – from the newly planted coffee tree to the used coffee. It creates new revenue for the farmers, makes it possible for the consumer to benefit from the whole cup and reduces our impact on climate and the environment.
New habits and products
The coffee consumer plays a crucial part in the circular conversion. Just imagine how much coffee grounds we throw away every day and how much leftover coffee we flush down the drain. Here we all can contribute. The coffee grounds can be used for skincare, as a fertilizer or for making furniture. The leftover coffee can be used in a refreshing ice coffee or a marinade.
At www.circularcoffeecommunity.com we gather practical tips on how everyone can fully make use of their coffee. We are also working to find new methods that can be used in small and large scale – at home as well as at cafés and restaurants. We will document the effects so that everyone who is a part of Circular Coffee Community can see that their efforts are meaningful and make a difference.
In Circular Coffee Community, we are also aiming at developing new climate-smart packaging and materials, and to push on for more organic and sustainable farming of coffee. And a whole lot of other things too.
It is about making the entire value chain of coffee circular – from farmers to consumers. We are convinced that the possibilities are limitless – and we want to explore them together with others in Circular Coffee Community.
Lars Aaen Thøgersen
Chief Innovation and Circular Transformation Officer at Löfbergs
