Researchers working to use coffee for water purification

Omani researchers have figured out a way to convert coffee waste into activated carbon — a material that can be used to sustainably purify water, according to Oman News Agency. The team was chosen by Oman’s Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation as one of the winners of its Upgrade program — which transforms graduation projects into startups. The project aims to reduce organic waste and purify water at low costs in an environmentally friendly way, head of the project implementation team Manar bint Saeed Al Attar said.

How does it work? The team plans to collect coffee waste from local shops and cafes to then dry for 24 hours at a 100°C before converting it to carbon through physical and chemical activation, including the use of a thermal reactor.

Why use activated carbon for purification? Activated carbon is highly porous as pollutants are attracted to its surface where they stick as a result of physical forces and chemical reactions at play. The material can then absorb organic compounds, chlorine, odors and some heavy metals from water to purify it as well as be recycled for other uses.

Coffee waste is a promising resource: Coffee waste amounts to 60 mn tons annually worldwide. The waste can be upcycled into “ virtually anything ” including bioplastics, coffee oil and D-mannose sugar, but most notably has the potential to be used as biofuel, according to a study.

What’s next? The team is working on researching how to increase production, develop new products from activated carbon, and applying the technology to other types of organic waste that contain carbon, Oman News Agency wrote.

Not the first researchers to explore coffee waste recycling: Egyptian startup Cupmena can turn spent coffee grounds and turn it into mushroom “superfood.” In the UAE, a team of researchers were able to recycle coffee waste into biofuels including biodiesel, biogas, bioethanol, bio-oil and pellet fuel, Al Arabiya reported. A team from University College London also founded their own startup to turn coffee grounds into biofuels.