Bio-bean

Bio-bean is a clean technology company that industrializes the process of recycling waste coffee grounds into sustainable biofuels and other bio-products. The company was founded in 2013 by Arthur Kay and Benjamin Harriman. The idea originated while Kay was an architecture student at University College London, tasked with designing a sustainable coffee shop, which made him realize the vast amount of waste produced. He saw potential in the oily, calorie-rich spent grounds as a resource for fuel.

Bio-bean established the world's first factory dedicated to recycling coffee waste, located in Cambridgeshire, UK, with the capacity to process tens of thousands of tonnes of coffee grounds annually. The company's business model is centered on the circular economy, collecting waste grounds from a wide range of clients, including coffee shops, offices, transport hubs, and instant coffee manufacturers. This service reduces waste disposal costs for its clients and mitigates the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from coffee grounds decomposing in landfills.

The company's core products include biomass pellets and briquettes for heating, and it has developed biochemicals and a raw material called Inficaf. One of its most well-known consumer products was 'Coffee Logs', eco-friendly fire logs for wood-burners and stoves that burn hotter than wood. Inficaf is a versatile, upcycled raw material sold for use in various industries, including bioplastics, cosmetics as an exfoliant, and automotive friction materials. In a notable 2017 collaboration, bio-bean worked with Shell and Transport for London to create a biofuel from coffee to help power some of London's buses. Despite its successes and numerous awards, the company went into administration in April 2023 following a fire at its factory.

Keywords: coffee waste recycling, biofuels, biomass pellets, circular economy, cleantech, sustainable materials, waste valorization, spent coffee grounds, Coffee Logs, Inficaf, biochemicals, industrial recycling, green energy, carbon footprint reduction, sustainable fuel, waste-to-energy, resource recovery, environmental services, biomass energy, bio-products