Turning coffee waste into coffee cups
A Macquarie University PhD in Molecular Sciences student believes he’s come up with a way
to turn coffee waste into biodegradable plastic coffee cups. He’s developed a method to turn
coffee grounds into lactic acid, which can then be used to produce biodegradable plastics,
and is now refining the process as he finishes his PhD.
“Australians consume six billion cups of coffee every year, and the coffee grounds used to
make these coffees are used only once and then discarded,” says researcher Dominik Kopp.
“In Sydney alone, over 920 cafes and coffee shops produced nearly 3,000 tonnes of waste
coffee grounds every year.
“Ninety-three per cent of this waste ends up in landfill, where it produces greenhouse gases
that contribute to global warming.” However, 50 per cent of coffee grounds are made up of
sugars, which are ideal candidates to convert into valuable bio-based chemicals, or chemicals
derived from plant- or animal-based feedstocks rather than crude oil.
“Our group is looking for new ways to convert biowaste—whether that be agricultural, garden,
paper or commercial food waste—into valuable raw materials that can be used to produce
high-value compounds in more environmentally-friendly ways,” says Molecular Sciences’
Anwar Sunna, who is Dominik’s supervisor and head of the Sunna Lab.
Dominik was awarded the INOFEA Early Career Award for Applied Biocatalysis or
Nanobiotechnology for the poster he presented on his research at the 18th European
Congress on Biotechnology last month. Find out more
Syllabus link: Investigating science syllabus Module 5
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