(image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — Coffee grounds are being reused to get rid of the stench at livestock farms.
The Ministry of Environment signed an agreement with the city of Incheon, North Gyeongsang Province, the Korea Productivity Center, the Korea Green Foundation and Hyundai Steel Co. on Wednesday for the recycling of coffee grounds.
The signatories will participate in a project to turn coffee grounds into deodorant or sawdust replacements using microorganism fermentation techniques for use at livestock farms.
A cup of Americano typically requires 15 grams of coffee beans, 99.8 percent of which is then discarded as waste.
It has been estimated that close to 150,000 tons of coffee grounds were generated in 2020 alone.
The ministry believes that recycling 200,000 tons of coffee grounds will save up to 20 billion won (US$16.7 million) in waste processing costs.
Considering that sawdust used at cow farms typically costs 200,000 won per ton, replacing it with 100,000 tons of coffee waste could lead to savings of 20 billion won.
In addition, considering that processing pig excrement into manure costs 50,000 won per ton, replacing it with 100,000 tons of coffee waste could save an additional 5 billion won.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
