In Finland, researchers at VTT Technical Research Centre are developing a process to grow coffee in a lab as a means to reduce the environmental impact of coffee plantations. The process involves cultivating coffee plant cells in media in a bioreactor, then drying and roasting the resulting biomass. Taste tests confirmed the brew tasted and […]
Chocolate without the cocoa bean? We’ve covered beef without the cow, dairy without the cow, pork without the pig, lab-grown lamb and fish, bioprinted meat, even food made out of thin air. But now we’ve got a no-cocoa chocolate in an effort to address the climate, child labor and human rights concerns surrounding the cocoa […]
In the United Kingdom, fans at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium can cut down on waste while simultaneously addressing their caffeine and sugar cravings. The stadium, which is host to Premier League’s Manchester United, will begin selling coffee and other hot beverages in cups made out of cookies, beginning this weekend. The cups are made by […]
In the United Kingdom, bio-bean Ltd. has launched a new material based on spent coffee grounds that it says could be used to replace virgin materials in a number of applications. Dubbed Inficaf, bio-bean collects and processes over 7,000 metric tons of spent coffee grounds annually. The process involves drying spent grounds before sieving and […]
In Japan, footwear brand CCILU has unveiled a new boot made out of used coffee grounds. Dubbed XpreSole Panto, the boot’s outsole is made of a vegan leather that is 30% coffee ground waste and 70% EVA and the insole is made from yarn also made from used coffee grounds. Weighing a third of the […]
This week’s Top 8 Innovations are feeding our appetite. With cultured meat innovator MeaTech filing a provisional U.S. patent application for its bioprinting method for printing up some juicy steaks, 3D printed algae that could help future Mars colonies, Swiss coffee capsules now made from bioplastic, and the world’s first cell-cultured human breast milk for […]
In Switzerland, Delica AG has begun selling coffee capsules made from renewable polypropylene. Produced by chemical giant SABIC, the PP pods can be used with Delica’s Delizio capsule coffee machines. The PP is produced using tall oil, a waste product of the pulp and paper industry. Renewable content is “at least” 65% and can be […]
In Vietnam, AirXcoffee has developed a plastic using used coffee grounds that can be used in disposable tableware and other items currently made from plastic. Dubbed Coffee Bio-Composite, the material is designated food safe by TUV Rheinland and has biobased content between 60% and 80%. AirXcoffee uses coffee grounds sourced from Vietnamese coffee shops. The […]
In Canada, a researcher from the University of British Columbia has invented the NEXE pod, a coffee pod which composts completely in as little as 35 days in industrial compost. The pods are made from two specially engineered components: an outer fiber jacket and a bioplastic inner capsule designed to break down into carbon dioxide, […]
Today, in part 3 of our series The Extraordinary remaking of Ordinary Things, let’s begin with the not well-known problem of the paper coffee cup, that it leaks and loses rigidity when hot, unless you put a coating on it, one made of polyethylene, and that coating makes it very, very difficult to break down […]
