https://www.livekindly.co/sustainable-palm-oil-replacement-coffee/
[links and images in online article]
Sustainable Palm Oil Replacement Found in Coffee
Former coffee shop workers believe they can extract sustainable oil from
used coffee grounds, potentially reducing palm oil deforestation and
food waste.
Charlotte Pointing
Two entrepreneurs have found a potential palm oil replacement in coffee
waste.
Former coffee shop workers Scott Kennedy and Fergus Moore — both from
Scotland — believe they can extract oil from used coffee grounds.
The idea could potentially help reduce palm oil deforestation and food
waste simultaneously.
Moore told BBC Scotland, “about 60% of a cafe’s waste is about coffee
grounds. In Scotland, that amounts to about 40,000 tonnes a year –
across the UK, more than half a million tonnes.” He added, “coffee
grounds are so heavy that it takes their waste bill through the roof.”
Despite a lack of background in engineering, Kennedy and Moore have
started their own sustainable oil company called Revive Eco.
The pair have already received £235,000 in funding from the Zero Waste
Scotland agency. They will be in the running for around £776,000 when
they compete against 19 other global companies in the Chivas Venture
competition.
“The most exciting part for us is that [the coffee grounds] have all the
same components as palm,” continued Moore. “Palm oil’s in the news for
all the wrong reasons. It’s really exciting for us that we could
potentially provide a local and more sustainable alternative to all the
industries that are currently using palm oil.”
The Palm Oil Problem
Palm oil is a vegetable oil taken from the fruit on the African oil palm
tree — despite its name, the tree can be found in Africa, Asia, South
America, and North America. It’s added to everything, from food, to
fuel, to cosmetics, to cleaning products.
According to Rainforest Rescue, this demand for the oil has led to
deforestation, a loss of biodiversity, and the displacement of
indigenous peoples.
The organization notes that more than half of palm oil imported to the
EU is used for fuel. It explains, “Only 70,000 orangutans still roam the
forests of Southeast Asia, yet the EU’s biofuels policy is pushing them
to the brink of extinction. Every new plantation on Borneo is destroying
a further piece of their habitat.”
In December 2018, Norway became the first country to ban palm oil-based
biofuel. Some companies, like Virgin Atlantic and UK supermarket chain
Iceland, have also chosen to boycott palm oil in favor of alternatives.
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