LG Household & Health Care Makes Cosmetics Using Coffee Grounds

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] LG Household & Health Care announced on the 12th that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the activated carbon upcycling startup ‘Dosigwangbu’ to recycle discarded coffee grounds (coffee residue) as raw materials for daily necessities and cosmetics. This MOU is part of ESG management activities that discover technologically capable startups and carry out resource circulation projects together.

LG Household & Health Care and Dosigwangbu recently signed an MOU regarding ‘coffee ground-based activated carbon upcycling’ and agreed to cooperate on the processing of coffee grounds and the manufacturing of activated carbon. LG Household & Health Care will provide coffee grounds discarded after manufacturing coffee beverages from its subsidiary Haitai htb to Dosigwangbu, which plans to produce and supply high-quality activated carbon made from coffee grounds as raw materials.

Activated carbon made from coffee grounds is evaluated as a high-quality functional bio-material due to its high carbon content, excellent adsorption properties, and absence of harmful substances. However, due to the complexity of the manufacturing process, Dosigwangbu is known to be the only company that has commercialized it so far.

LG Household & Health Care plans to recycle the high-quality activated carbon made from coffee grounds as raw materials for daily necessities (deodorizers) and cosmetics (sebum adsorbents). In addition, they are also considering processing it into bio activated carbon and providing it as a soil fertility enhancer to farms near the Haitai htb Cheonan factory.