Uses of Coffee Grounds: Black Coffee Grounds for Refrigerator Deodorization and Even Furniture Speakers!

Innovative Furniture Made from Recycled Coffee Grounds

Recently, an exhibition in Yangpu District, Shanghai's MaoMa Warehouse showcased a collection of furniture made from coffee grounds. These eco-friendly furniture pieces utilize "coffee ground circular recycled panels," developed through collaboration between Tongji University and Starbucks. The process involves mixing recycled coffee grounds with other environmentally friendly materials to create low-carbon, eco-friendly panels suitable for various furniture designs.

The inherent porous structure and special properties of coffee grounds provide them with functions such as absorbing impurities, deodorizing, and antibacterial capabilities. Additionally, their good thermal conductivity, insulation, and water absorption properties allow them to demonstrate their advantages in fields such as clothing, construction, and building materials. The natural wood-like color brings people a warm and comfortable feeling, and as an organic material, coffee grounds have advantages in terms of color.

Design Applications and Innovation

This exhibition was jointly organized by the College of Design and Innovation at Tongji University and Covestro Polymer Company, focusing on applied design for recycled coffee ground panels. Through designers' study and understanding of the material, they propose design possibilities for this new eco-friendly material in product applications. Let's take a look at some of the exhibited designs in this exhibition:

Coffee Tree Table - Aurora Innovation Center

The design inspiration comes from the natural landscapes of coffee's origin—tall tropical shrubs and undulating mountain forests. By tracing the process of coffee production-harvesting-making-enjoying-recycling, it awakens people's natural consciousness. The table is designed in two different heights, which can both accommodate people sitting and using computers and facilitate people communicating through standing postures, letting their minds wander and express themselves freely.

Tree Table - College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University and Material Application and Innovation Laboratory

The shape of this side table is inspired by the rich visual effects of design solutions in 3D software and the form elements of trees in nature. To increase the table's firmness, the design team combined coffee ground panels with plywood and sandwich panels. The dark circular coffee recycled panels contain a higher proportion of recycled coffee grounds, and you can smell a faint coffee aroma when you get close.

XO Tea Chair - East China University of Science and Technology

Chairs are considered the 'pinnacle' in the category of furniture design, and almost every famous designer and architect has their own renowned chair. Since coffee ground recycled panels are not easily suitable for fine cutting, they are combined through interlocking methods, which also makes it convenient for customers to assemble themselves.

Triangle Screen - College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University

This work uses the Chinese three-way interlocking structure to increase the structural stability of the triangle screen and creates versatile storage space through panel interlocking frames.

Coffee Ground Speaker - Muha Design Company

If recycled panels were used to make the speaker cabinet, it would lack visual appeal. Therefore, the design company mixed coffee grounds with PCL (biodegradable plastic) to create the speaker cabinet. Coffee grounds have sound-absorbing effects, while also bringing an oatmeal cookie-like color and special texture to the cabinet. By adding PCL for shaping, more designs can be created for the cabinet.

Image source: Network

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