Two Scottish entrepreneurs are aiming to go global with their hope to replace palm oil using coffee waste. Scott Kennedy and Fergus Moore said they came up with a unique way to extract oil from used coffee grounds which had a wide range of uses. Palm oil is found in many household products, but environmentalists say demand for it is devastating rainforests in Asia. Manufacturers are now under pressure to find an alternative.
Moore told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “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. And coffee grounds are so heavy that it takes their waste bill through the roof.”
Explaining the idea behind his Revive Eco company, Moore said: “There are oils in coffee with a wide range of uses in different industries – cosmetics pharmaceuticals, food and drink, household products – you name it, there’s probably a use there. We’re developing a process to extract and purify these oils.”
Moore added: “The most exciting part for us is that they have all the same components as palm. 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.”