Driving the Circular Economy Through Coffee
ECOFFEE drives a sustainable future by transforming coffee waste into innovative products, promoting a positive impact on the environment and the circular economy within the HORECA and vending sectors.
Transforms coffee waste into ingredients for animal feed and natural biocides. Promotes sustainable solutions that reduce waste and encourage recycling in HORECA and vending sectors. Brings together innovative entities to lead sector transformation toward greener and more efficient models.
Transforming coffee waste into sustainable opportunities
ECOFFEE is a pilot project funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe programme. Its goal is to give a second life to coffee waste from vending machines and the HORECA sector.
Through a collaborative approach between companies, research centres and innovation entities, ECOFFEE transforms coffee grounds into natural ingredients for biocides and animal feed, contributing to the circular economy and the European Green Deal.
Key Objectives
Circular Economy for the HORECA Sector
We collect and valorize coffee grounds from hospitality and vending machines, converting them into high-value bioproducts that reduce landfill waste.
Environmental Innovation
Using cutting-edge micro-dispersion and LCA tools, we measure and minimize the environmental footprint of our circular processes.
European Consortium
AZTI, Euskovazza, FumiHogar and Fundación Finnova collaborate across Spain to drive this industrial symbiosis model.
Driving the Circular Economy in HORECA
Technological centre specialized in marine, environmental, and food research. AZTI leads scientific coordination, by-product characterization, and environmental impact assessment using the GRETA tool.
Manages the reverse logistics network for collecting spent coffee grounds from HORECA establishments and vending machines across the region.
Applies dry micro-dispersion technology to extract caffeine and flavonoids from coffee grounds for creating natural biocides including larvicides and repellents.
Manages market transfer, impact measurement, and dissemination. Coordinates the ECOFFEE project communication and stakeholder engagement across Europe.