COFFEE RESURRECT, Inc.

"While coffee is one of the most popularly consumed beverages on the planet, consumers often do not realize that coffee-related waste has a severe impact on both the earth and its atmosphere, from turning soil acidic to releasing greenhouse gases," said Almaw Molla, founder of COFFEE RESURRECT.

COFFEE RESURRECT Inc. is the first industrial biotechnology in Africa to create personal care, nutraceuticals, and food ingredients from coffee wastes sustainably.

Coffee, one of the most valuable primary products in world trade and also a central and popular part of our culture and grown in about 80 countries, is one of the world’s most popular beverages and the second-largest traded commodity after petroleum. While drinking coffee is something widely celebrated, discussions about the massive amounts of coffee waste that are left behind are not heard very often. Coffee husk, coffee silver skin, and spent coffee grounds are the main coffee agricultural and industry residues.

For example, over 9 billion kg of coffee are consumed yearly worldwide and 99% of that becomes spent coffee grounds, which are currently treated as waste. Most of it ends up in landfills, where it decomposes and releases methane, a greenhouse gas 86 times more harmful to the environment than CO2. One ton of coffee wastes decompose into 340 m3 of methane. The yearly environmental impact of coffee waste decomposition is equivalent to 10 million car emissions.