AIMPLAS, the Plastics Technology Centre, has manufactured a plastic film from used coffee grounds to be used in flexible packaging applications in the wider pursuit of converting urban biowaste at scale.
To produce the film, AIMPLAS obtained PHA from restaurant coffee grounds sourced and recycled by bio-bean. This PHA was then formulated and extruded into a flexible material.
The endeavor contributes toward the WaysTUP! Project, which is financed by the Horizon H2020 program and seeks to promote the importance of urban biowaste as a resource amongst local communities and create new value chains to utilize it at an industrial scale.
Reportedly, around 100 million tons of biowaste are not collected every year – suggesting that an industrial shift toward bioplastics and compostable materials could create 20,000 jobs in the waste management sector, as well as reducing CO2 emissions.
