As issues related to global warming continue to arise, people around the world are constantly searching for solutions to our environmental concerns. One notable one is seeking ways to address the growing waste issue, with the World Bank estimating that global waste would grow to 3.40 billion tonnes by 2050. It is for this reason that recycling and especially the concept of a circular economy have become so popular. In the latest news, a project developed by a group of researchers at the Federal University of São Carlos (USFCar) and the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) and in the United Kingdom at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) seeks to combine the concept of the circular economy with coffee pods and 3D printing. More specifically, the teams have succeeded in using used coffee capsules as raw material to manufacture filaments suitable for 3D printing.
Indeed, this is not the first project that seeks to target coffee pods in particular. These single-use capsules have been the center of quite a storm of commentary in recent years. The global market is expected to grow to about $50B by 2030 according to Straits Research, with the US and Europe especially depending on them for their daily caffeine fix. However, controversies have arisen over how “sustainable” they really are as recycling can be difficult and many not doing it. Indeed, Nespresso, one of the leading suppliers, has stated that only about 30% of its pods are recycled, meaning most end up in a landfill. As such more and more people are finding ways to address the problem, including this latest venture.
The project involves recycling coffee pods (like those pictured) and turning them into 3D printing filament (photo credits: Nespresso)
Making 3D Printing Filaments Out of Recycled Coffee Pods
As mentioned above, though reusable pods are available and some manufacturers promote the recycling of aluminum versions, most plastic capsules are usually simply discarded. This is catastrophic, as according to a study conducted at the Institute for Research in Technology (IPT), “using a coffee capsule can be up to 14 times more harmful to the environment than using a paper filter”. But what can be done to challenge this?
Imagine instead a process in which the waste generated by an economic activity is not considered as an environmental problem, but as a valuable resource that can drive new initiatives. This is precisely what drives the idea of a “circular economy”, and this project is a clear example of it. Instead of discarding the capsules as garbage, they are given a second life. In this case, the researchers discovered that the polymeric base of these capsules can be used to create high value-added devices. That is, from this waste, materials with great potential can be obtained to be used in the manufacture of innovative and high quality products.
This image shows the process that the researchers sought to produce
In order to find new solutions for these wastes, researchers have developed electrochemical cells using non-conductive PLA (polylactic acid) filaments and electrochemical sensors using conductive filaments, to which carbon black was added. Carbon black is a form of paracrystalline carbon obtained from the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons. Bruno Campos Janegitz, coordinator of the Laboratory of Sensors, Nanomedicine and Nanostructured Materials (LSNano) at UFSCar in Araras and co-author of the article, explains that the electrochemical sensors were used to determine the percentage of caffeine in green tea and arabica coffee.
“We obtain the non-conductive material simply by washing and drying PLA pods, followed by hot extrusion. To obtain the conductive material, we add carbon black before heating and extrusion. The extruded material is then cooled and spooled to produce the filament of interest,” explained Bruno.
This new filament created from coffee capsules brings with it a major shift in thinking. Instead of seeing waste as something harmful to the environment, it is seen as a valuable resource that can be transformed into something useful and beneficial. In addition, this practice not only helps to reduce the amount of waste going to landfills, but also makes the best use of available resources, avoiding the need to use new materials and thus reducing the environmental impact. You can find the complete study HERE.
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