'Coffee City Busan' Leads the Way in Coffee Grounds Recycling Initiative

Busan Selects Iwon Environment Consortium for This Year's Coffee Grounds Recycling Project
Establishing Coffee Grounds Collection Platform and Promoting Product Development

The project to recycle coffee grounds as a resource will be actively promoted at the municipal level.

The city of Busan (Mayor Park Hyungjoon) announced on the 11th that it has selected the Iwon Environment Consortium as the operator for this year’s coffee grounds recycling project. Coffee grounds refer to the byproduct remaining after extracting coffee liquid from coffee beans.

The selected operator, the Iwon Environment Consortium, plans to focus on ▲establishing a platform for collecting coffee grounds in the region, ▲developing products to expand the use of coffee grounds, ▲building production facilities, and ▲pursuing eco-label certification, among other coffee tech initiatives.

In addition, to ensure the stable and efficient collection and recycling of coffee grounds, a public collection system project was announced for 16 districts, with Busanjin-gu ultimately being selected.

Busanjin-gu will systematically collect coffee grounds generated by local coffee shops, then dry and store them, serving as a hub for supplying raw materials for the production of recycled products.

Since last year, the city has enacted the nation’s first related ordinance to realize Busan as a global coffee city, and has verified various potential uses?such as biofuel, cosmetics, fertilizer, and tourism products?through pilot projects.

Starting this year, the city plans to implement the recycling project in a more practical and specific manner by establishing a public collection system, developing products, and building production facilities.

This project also aims to create new jobs and foster the circular economy industry by thoroughly verifying local recruitment of new personnel and the establishment of production facilities, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of the project.

Busan expects that this project will ▲reduce coffee grounds waste and disposal costs, ▲promote the development and commercialization of eco-friendly products, ▲improve the technological capabilities and market expansion of local companies, and ▲make a significant contribution to environmental protection and carbon neutrality.

Lee Byungseok, Director of Busan’s Environmental Water Policy Office, stated, “The recycling of coffee grounds will become not just simple resource reuse, but a pillar of sustainable local industry,” adding, “The city will spare no effort in supporting the development of various innovative technologies and products utilizing coffee grounds.”