With waste becoming a global challenge to deal with now and in the future, coffee waste is highlighted. Currently in the UK, the industry is developing, but at the same time, still under much research. Thus, the project aims to not only provide coffee to campuses and along the Oxford road, but most importantly collecting coffee grounds in order to provide second lives and expanding coffee's lifespan. The coffee grounds collected only by bicycles, will be used to mainly produce mushroom and reusable cups within the building, and potentially support small-scale almond plantation on the adjacent park (All Saints Park). These help reduce waste as well as carbon footprint with almond replacing diary milk. Grown mushrooms will contribute back to the food supply chain. Thus, the system uses coffee as a link between campuses, Oxford Road Corridor and local communities; perhaps, the city and beyond in the future.
By consolidating roasteries, bars, to majority spaces for processing coffee grounds, it reduces transportation emissions, highlights the opportunities beyond a cup of coffee, and educates people on the lifetime of coffee. Coffee grounds, green and roasted coffee beans make their way around the building with copper pipes and conveyor belts, which emphasises the journey.
Small scale roastery can also have transparent trading with small farm holders. This expands the knowledge of coffee drinkers on the quality and provenance of the coffee whilst appreciating the waste that they create.
By recycling coffee grounds, it is a win-win situation for cafes and restaurants where they can buy coffee and mushrooms whilst saving on disposal cost. The same can be applied to household especially during times like pandemic, where deliveries for in-home consumption is the focus. Ultimately, by reusing coffee grounds, synergy between human, environment and technology can be achieved to create resilient future cities.
