Reusing coffee ground waste in manufacture of novel sustainable product

Abstract

Coffee is one of the most important commodities in the world. Every year the coffee industry is responsible for generating a large amount of wastes, mainly Spent Coffee Grounds (SCGs). The traditional disposal of this residue into the environment should be avoided due to its toxicity and organic character. Because of the decrease in nonrenewable natural resources, society has been making a huge effort to valorize and reuse several types of wastes in the production of novel sustainable products. In this regard, construction is considered one of the most energy-intensive sectors. As a consequence, the goals of sustainability and energy efficiency must be prosecuted to achieve the results expected by the recent European directives and national regulations. The present paper aims at providing further knowledge on wastes recycling, analyzing the influence of the SCG incorporation as an aggregate in construction materials. To this purpose, the produced mortar specimens are firstly characterized. Afterwards, engineering properties as well as environmental and economic aspects are taken into account to rank the considered mixtures by a multicriteria approach. The performed analysis highlights how the addition of the considered industrial wastes is strongly recommended to improve the performance of materials intended for various applications in construction.