benefits of coffee they haven’t finished drinking yet. A study published this week reveals a different and unexpected use for the grains used to make it. There, the scientists found that the leftover infusion is used to create a variant of concrete that can be up to 30% stronger. In addition, they emphasize that this proposal promotes environmental health and a circular economy, as an element that would normally end up in landfills is reused.
Researchers at RMIT University in Australia detail in their study that coffee grounds – what is thrown away after roasting the beans can be reused to produce an innovative, environmentally friendly and durable material. It is in this order that they explain that the “chemical glue” that reinforces concrete is produced in the correct proportions.
“Our work was inspired by the search for new ways to use the large amount of waste from these grains. In this case, for construction projects. We give coffee a second life“This is the lead author of the study, Dr. Rajeev Roichand from the university’s School of Engineering.
The benefits of coffee for the construction industry
About 4 billion 400 million tons of concrete are produced annually, this process requires about 8 billion tons of sand out of about 50 billion used annually. This activity has partly caused a serious shortage of this essential product in the construction industry.
Scientists from an Australian institution investigated whether the benefits of coffee in construction could be replicated. They started with a key fact: people we produce about 10,000 million kilograms of waste from this grain, annually. Meanwhile, why not take advantage of the available resource that ends up in landfills?
“Utilization of organic waste is an environmental problem. It emits large amounts of greenhouse gases, including methane and carbon dioxide. This contributes to climate change,” says Roichand, confirming that they are working to put this initiative into practice.
How is concrete made from coffee grounds?
Experts note that grain waste must be mixed with concrete in a very specific process. In other words, they just need to be thrown into a container next to sand and water. After a series of tests, they came to the conclusion that in order to take advantage of the coffee and create this variation of concrete, the mixture had to be heated to 350 degrees Celsius.
With this procedure, you can get Improved concrete strength by 29.3%. “In addition to reducing emissions and increasing the strength of concrete, we are mitigating the impact of the continuous mining of natural resources such as sand,” says Dr. Roichand.
For his part, study co-author and RMIT member Dr. Shannon Kilmartin-Lynch notes that the construction industry has the potential to make a significant contribution to recycling of organic wastelike used coffee. “Our investigation is at an early stage. However, these exciting discoveries offer an innovative way to significantly reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills.”
That will, now fueled by the unexpected benefits of coffee in its commonly discarded form, is relevant. According to the expert, a large amount of methane is generated during the disposal of organic waste. It is a greenhouse gas, 21 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.
Thanks to this initiative, we now know that the benefits of coffee go beyond what other studies have suggested. Among them is the one who assured that drinking this drink helps to avoid diabetes and excess weight. In terms of innovative use in construction, what steps are you taking to implement the plan? According to RMIT, the team is moving towards develop implementation strategiesconduct field trials and cooperate with various industries.
Source: Hiper Textual
