https://www.rmit.edu.au/news/all-news/2023/aug/coffee-concrete Coffee offers performance boost for concrete SKIP TO CONTENT * RMIT Australia + RMIT Europe + RMIT Global + RMIT Vietnam + Study online * Students * Alumni * Staff * Library * RMIT Online Search field [ ] Search Search [ ] RMIT Australia * RMIT Europe * RMIT Global * RMIT Vietnam * Study online Students Alumni Staff Library RMIT Online * Courses + Courses by study area + Undergraduate courses + Postgraduate courses + Vocational studies + Short courses + Pre-university studies + Online courses and degrees + Entry pathways + Courses for international students * Study with us + How to apply + Fees + Scholarships + School leaver information + Student services + Student experience + Key dates + Frequently asked questions + Parents + Career advisers * Life at RMIT + Study experience + Student life + Support for students + Global opportunities + Industry connections * About + News + Events + Maps + Careers + Contact us + Our strategy + Governance & management + Schools & colleges + Respect for Australian Indigenous cultures + Our locations and facilities + Our heritage * Research + Our research + Partnerships + Find RMIT researchers + Impact + Contact + Centres and collaborations + Research degrees * Partner + Recruit students and graduates + Workforce development + Collaborate with RMIT + Research partnerships + Facilities, equipment and services + Contact Industry Engagement + Giving to RMIT * International + Study in Australia + Programs for international students + International student enquiries + Fees and scholarships for international students + International student services + Key dates for international students + Frequently asked questions * Courses * + Courses by study area + Undergraduate courses + Postgraduate courses + Vocational studies + Short courses + Pre-university studies + Online courses and degrees + Entry pathways + Courses for international students * Study with us * + How to apply + Fees + Scholarships + School leaver information + Student services + Student experience + Key dates + Frequently asked questions + Parents + Career advisers * Life at RMIT * + Study experience + Student life + Support for students + Global opportunities + Industry connections * About * + News + Events + Maps + Careers + Contact us + Our strategy + Governance & management + Schools & colleges + Respect for Australian Indigenous cultures + Our locations and facilities + Our heritage * Research * + Our research + Partnerships + Find RMIT researchers + Impact + Contact + Centres and collaborations + Research degrees * Partner * + Recruit students and graduates + Workforce development + Collaborate with RMIT + Research partnerships + Facilities, equipment and services + Contact Industry Engagement + Giving to RMIT * International * + Study in Australia + Programs for international students + International student enquiries + Fees and scholarships for international students + International student services + Key dates for international students + Frequently asked questions [news-roast] Coffee offers performance boost for concrete Engineers in Australia have found a way of making stronger concrete with roasted used-coffee grounds, to give the drink-additive a "double shot" at life and reduce waste going to landfills. Lead author Dr Rajeev Roychand from RMIT University said the team developed a technique to make concrete 30% stronger by turning waste coffee grounds into biochar, using a low-energy process without oxygen at 350 degrees Celsius. "The disposal of organic waste poses an environmental challenge as it emits large amounts of greenhouse gases including methane and carbon dioxide, which contribute to climate change," said Roychand, from the School of Engineering. Australia generates 75 million kilograms of ground coffee waste every year - most of it goes to landfills. Globally, 10 billion kilograms of spent coffee is generated annually. Published in the Journal of Cleaner Production, the study by RMIT engineers is the first to prove that waste coffee grounds can be used to improve concrete. [maxresdefa] Coffee offers performance boost for concrete Engineers in Australia have found a way of making stronger concrete with roasted used-coffee grounds, to give the drink-additive a "double shot" at life and reduce waste going to landfills. Coffee offers performance boost for concrete Engineers in Australia have found a way of making stronger concrete with roasted used-coffee grounds, to give the drink-additive a "double shot" at life and reduce waste going to landfills. Transcript our whole group was having a chat over coffee and we were in in kitchen and we saw we have a nest Cafe waste board where we collect all the waste material and that's when we thought of let's find out a solution where rather than sending it to landfills and we can find out a solution where we can make this waste as a resource for some application so the problem with the organic way is going to landfills is basically High methane emissions which are 21 times worse than carbon dioxide and then we have to spend a lot of natural of our resources to dispose of these waste materials coffee in particular it's about we produce about 75 000 uh tons per year in Australia and quite a large amount of it goes into landfills and this waste is now converted into a resource which provides Improvement in strength of the concrete so the innovation of this project was making this coffee compatible with the concrete which otherwise is a challenge because of high organic content so we developed a process where we roasted this in absence of oxygen to a very low energy process to make it compatible with concrete and we we managed to improve the strength of concrete by almost 30 percent I so in addition to making a reducing emissions and making a stronger concrete we are even reducing the impact of continuous mining of Natural Resources like sand so this waste can be used as a replacement of the sand so reducing the impact of a continuous mining of sand uh so my name is Northeast cooler Nations inspiration for my research sort of from an indigenous perspective plays a lot and involves going back to caring for Country ensuring that there's sort of a sustainable life cycle of all materials avoid avoiding things going into landfill and sort of minimizing that impact on the environment really plays a big part of you know caring for country in itself and then so that's really where my Inspirations Rules from as an indigenous coffee registry it's important for us to to lean into key values that align with the coffee industry but equally that of supporting young indigenous academics and individuals within our community Back to video "The inspiration for our work was to find an innovative way of using the large amounts of coffee waste in construction projects rather than going to landfills - to give coffee a 'double shot' at life," said Roychand, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at RMIT. "Several councils that are battling with the disposal of organic waste have shown interest in our work. "They have already engaged us for their upcoming infrastructure projects incorporating pyrolysed forms of different organic wastes." Pyrolysis involves heating organic waste in the absence of oxygen. Drew Paten, Co-founder of Talwali, listens to Dr Rajeev Roychand explain how they used spent coffee grounds in their concrete, with fellow RMIT researchers Dr Shannon Kilmartin-Lynch and Dr Mohammad Saberian (pictured left to right). Credit: Carelle Mulawa-Richards, RMIT University Drew Paten, Co-founder of Talwali, listens to Dr Rajeev Roychand explain how they used spent coffee grounds in their concrete, with fellow RMIT researchers Dr Shannon Kilmartin-Lynch and Dr Mohammad Saberian (pictured left to right). Credit: Carelle Mulawa-Richards, RMIT University The construction industry can support the recycling of waste Joint lead author, Dr Shannon Kilmartin-Lynch, a Vice-Chancellor's Indigenous Postdoctoral Research Fellow at RMIT, said construction industries around the world could play a role in transforming this waste into a valuable resource. "Inspiration for my research, from an Indigenous perspective, involves Caring for Country, ensuring there's a sustainable life cycle for all materials and avoiding things going into landfill to minimise the impact on the environment," said Kilmartin-Lynch from the School of Engineering. "The concrete industry has the potential to contribute significantly to increasing the recycling of organic waste such as used coffee. "Our research is in the early stages, but these exciting findings offer an innovative way to greatly reduce the amount of organic waste that goes to landfill." Samples of unroasted coffee beans, roasted coffee beans, spent ground coffee and the team's coffee biochar. Credit: Carelle Mulawa-Richards, RMIT University Samples of unroasted coffee beans, roasted coffee beans, spent ground coffee and the team's coffee biochar. Credit: Carelle Mulawa-Richards, RMIT University Preserving a precious natural resource Corresponding author and research team leader Professor Jie Li said the coffee biochar can replace a portion of the sand that was used to make concrete. "The ongoing extraction of natural sand around the world - typically taken from river beds and banks - to meet the rapidly growing demands of the construction industry has a big impact on the environment," Li said. 50 billion tonnes of natural sand are used in construction projects globally every year. "There are critical and long-lasting challenges in maintaining a sustainable supply of sand due to the finite nature of resources and the environmental impacts of sand mining," Li said. "With a circular-economy approach, we could keep organic waste out of landfill and also better preserve our natural resources like sand." Co-researcher Dr Mohammad Saberian said the construction industry needed to explore alternative raw materials to ensure its sustainability. "Our research team has gained extensive experience in developing highly optimised biochars from different organic wastes, including wood biochar, food-waste biochar, agricultural waste biochar, and municipal solid-waste biochar, for concrete applications," Saberian said. RMIT University researchers Dr Rajeev Roychand, Dr Mohammad Saberian and Dr Shannon Kilmartin-Lynch with Jordan Carter, Co-founder of the Indigenous-owned Talwali Coffee Roasters (pictured left to right). Credit: Carelle Mulawa-Richards, RMIT University RMIT University researchers Dr Rajeev Roychand, Dr Mohammad Saberian and Dr Shannon Kilmartin-Lynch with Jordan Carter, Co-founder of the Indigenous-owned Talwali Coffee Roasters (pictured left to right). Credit: Carelle Mulawa-Richards, RMIT University What are the next steps? The researchers plan to develop practical implementation strategies and work towards field trials. The team is keen to collaborate with various industries to develop their research. RMIT researchers Professor Kevin Zhang, Professor Jie Li, Dr Rajeev Roychand, Dr Shannon Kilmartin-Lynch and Dr Mohammad Saberian in the RMIT Microscopy and Microanalysis Facility, where they analysed the structure of their coffee concrete (pictured left to right). Credit: Will Wright, RMIT University RMIT researchers Professor Kevin Zhang, Professor Jie Li, Dr Rajeev Roychand, Dr Shannon Kilmartin-Lynch and Dr Mohammad Saberian in the RMIT Microscopy and Microanalysis Facility, where they analysed the structure of their coffee concrete (pictured left to right). Credit: Will Wright, RMIT University Support for the research The authors acknowledge the support from ARUP Australia Pty Ltd, Earth Systems Pty Ltd and RMIT University, including the Strategic Capability Deployment Fund, Rheology and Materials Characterisation Laboratory, the X-Ray Facility and the Microscopy and Microanalysis Facility. The authors also acknowledge the Indigenous-owned coffee supplier Talwali Coffee Roasters for providing used ground coffee for the research. 'Transforming spent coffee grounds into a valuable resource for the enhancement of concrete strength' is published in the Journal of Cleaner Production. (DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.138205). RMIT co-authors are Dr Rajeev Roychand, Dr Shannon Kilmartin-Lynch, Dr Mohammad Saberian, Professor Jie Li, Professor Guomin (Kevin) Zhang and Professor Chun-Qing Li. Story: Will Wright * Society and Environment * Technology 23 August 2023 Share * * * * Return to RMIT News * Society and Environment * Technology 23 August 2023 Share * * * * * Sustainability * Science and technology * Indigenous * Research * STEM * Engineering * Industry * Environment * Indigenous Australia Engage Contact RMIT News Find an expert Study with us Research at RMIT Related News news-coffeeconcretedemo-1220px.jpg Coffee offers performance boost for concrete Engineers in Australia have found a way of making stronger concrete with roasted used-coffee grounds, to give the drink-additive a "double shot" at life and reduce waste going to landfills. 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