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It took three years for the Chi Green team to use coffee grounds to make waterproof shoes and dirt-proof shoes. what is the value of coffee grounds?

Published: 2026-04-16 Author: World Gafei

Last Updated: 2026/04/16, Coffee grounds are no longer useless waste. Coffee grounds, as the most common garbage in cafes, are usually directly discarded as rubbish after being used. In fact, large areas of discarded coffee grounds can easily cause environmental pollution. It is understood that 8 million tons of coffee grounds are produced worldwide every year, and dispose of discarded coffee grounds.

Coffee grounds are no longer useless waste. Coffee grounds, as the most common garbage in cafes, are usually directly discarded as rubbish after being used. In fact, a large area of discarded coffee grounds can easily cause environmental pollution. It is understood that 8 million tons of coffee grounds are produced in the world every year, and the methane removed from discarded coffee grounds will seriously pollute the environment.

The Green team, which has been awarded the International Design Award, spent three years researching and developing unique patented technology, which finally turned the discarded coffee grounds into an environmentally friendly casual shoes XpreSole. According to reports, the upper material of this environmentally friendly casual shoe XpreSole is that the Chi Green team mixes and dissolves coffee grounds and recyclable plastic bottles, extrudes them into fibers and weaves them into coffee yarn.

In addition to the upper, the sole is also made of coffee grounds. In addition, the team also developed a new generation of XPRESOLE materials, XPRESOLE environmentally friendly recycled coffee grounds shoes, which are made of coffee grounds from uppers, insoles and outsoles, so that shoes can maintain a hint of coffee aroma and apply nano-coating on uppers, so these shoes have strong waterproof and dirt-proof properties. Similarly, in February this year, Nike Air Force, a sneaker brand owned by the world's well-known sports brand NIKE, designed a shoe with a "coffee" element.

NIKE uses coffee inspiration to launch the new "Coffee" AF1, which uses a coffee theme from color matching to detail, upper made of light brown suede leather and denim fabric, while Swoosh uses dark brown, brown midsole and black particles like coffee grounds, and finally a cartoon cat sits in a coffee cup on the insole.

In August, Finnish sneaker brand Rens also launched shoes made entirely of coffee grounds and plastic bottles.

It is reported that the sneaker, made of coffee grounds and plastic bottles, mixes coffee grounds with plastic bottles into filaments through a high-pressure process, which is used to make uppers, while soles are made from other recycled plastics. on average, each shoe requires six plastic bottles and about 21 cups of coffee grounds. In addition, in March 2020, Anta recycled coffee grounds to produce "environmental theme" shoes and clothing. Anta developed an environmentally friendly coffee yarn series by recycling 100 tons of coffee grounds, recycling coffee grounds into polyester fiber to achieve waste recycling.

In addition to the above-mentioned use of coffee grounds to make shoes, on September 30 this year, Starbucks' first environmental experimental store, Xiang Green Workshop, also used coffee grounds. The biggest difference between Xiang Green Workshop and previous cafes is that this cafe is the first Starbucks store in China to recycle its coffee grounds. It is said that even the green apron is made from recycled PET beverage bottles, so it caught the attention of many consumers immediately after opening to the outside world. As for the recycling of coffee grounds, Starbucks officials said that the coffee grounds in the store will be used as organic fertilizer for crops and shopping mall gardens after composting.

Similarly, in March 2021, Manner adopted the element of "coffee grounds" and opened a flash cafe with the theme of environmental protection. the bar in the coffee shop and the tables and chairs in the guest area were made of coffee grounds recycled materials, so the store exuded the aroma of coffee everywhere. In addition, due to the particularity of the coffee shop, Manner Coffee also proposed that the coffee grounds produced in the coffee shop during the period should not only be used by customers themselves. KAFFTEC is responsible for recycling the rest.

Starbucks also uses coffee grounds to make straws and cups.

Starbucks coffee grounds straw is named "dregs tube". "dregs tube" is a biodegradable straw made of PLA and "coffee grounds", which degrades more than 90% in 4 months, while all coffee grounds that make "dregs tube" come from Starbucks' own coffee after extraction and reuse.

In April last year, Starbucks launched a dregs cup, which uses coffee grounds instead of some plastic particles, and contains more than 30% coffee grounds in the outer layer of the coffee residue cup.

In addition, coffee grounds can also be used to make auto parts and cold jackets.

In December 2019, the Ford Motor Company made auto parts by recycling McDonald's coffee grounds.

In November last year, a Japanese brand mixed the equivalent of 40 cups of coffee residue into the fiber of the coat, eventually creating a coffee grounds cold-proof coat.

In 2018, an Italian industrial design student inspired the idea of making coffee cups because of coffee.

It took about four years to make this coffee cup, which is mixed with coffee grounds, and the coffee plate is designed with grooves for its own coffee cup.

It is reported that about six cups of espresso residue are needed for a cup and plate.

But in fact, in-depth research, the use of coffee grounds is also far beyond the production of shoes, straws and other uses mentioned above. It is understood that every 1 ton of coffee beans will eventually produce 650kg coffee grounds, while 8 million tons of coffee grounds will be produced in the world every year. Most of the coffee grounds are usually discarded as garbage, which will cause environmental pollution. If the coffee grounds are fully utilized, the environmental pollution will be greatly reduced. People in the industry said: coffee grounds are expected to become a new generation of environmentally friendly and renewable energy with better economic benefits in the future. I really hope that people who are greatly inspired by their thinking will use coffee grounds to make more treasures. What treasure do you have for coffee grounds? Welcome to leave messages and interact with each other.

* Image source: Internet

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