Bio-degradable nano-fibres from coffee grounds

Japanese recycling engineers and scientists have discovered yet another fantastic use for spent coffee grounds. In the past furniture, printer ink, clothes and other useful items have all been fashioned from the waste product of drinking coffee but now they have developed something truly extraordinary – cellulose nanofiber.

What are cellulose nanofibers? Well, they are key components in the manufacture of bio-degradable plastics.

According to the source article in New Atlas coffee grounds are a good candidate for this sort of product because “approximately half of their weight and volume is made up of cellulose.”

The researchers are even looking to turn the coffee plastic into plastic that can be used to hold more coffee: “We aim to make a transparent disposal coffee cup and straw with an additive comprising cellulose nanofibers from spent coffee grounds,” said the lead scientist Izuru Kawamura from Yokohama National University.