Meet the Penarth-based business that collects recycled waste coffee grounds

What if your favourite cup of coffee could DO GOOD? This was the question that sparked the idea behind Grounds For Good - a small, Penarth-based business that was founded in April 2021.

Grounds For Good does a fantastic job of collecting waste coffee grounds from local establishments, diverting them to landfill, and transforming them into luxury and innovative products for retail.

The concept of the business was the brainchild of retired Consultant Psychiatrist, Dr Rosie Oretti (pictured above), who beforehand volunteered for a not-for-profit Cardiff café for 12 months. When doing this, she was astounded by the amount of coffee grounds generated and discarded, which is when Ground For Good came in.

When the Covid-19 pandemic first started, Rosie started to research what could be done with all this waste product, and was surprised by the range of applications. It soon became evident that waste coffee grounds are of value and still contain a powerhouse of natural, active ingredients.

The business launched with a trio of exfoliating coffee body scrubs and soon branched out into other home and lifestyle items such as candles and firelighters, all harnessing the aroma, texture and density remaining in the grounds.

Dr Oretti then started to experiment with the flavour from waste ground products, therefore starting to produce London Dry Gin, a Vodka and a number of different chocolate bars.

Welsh Vegan Chocolate Bars by Grounds For Good - Credit: Grounds For Good

Rosie said:

"We currently run as an ecommerce business but also sell to a number of retail outlets including hotels, bars, farmshops, etc.

"We’ve found that fellow businesses are looking to provide their customers with innovative and unusual products that also support the ever-important sustainability agenda."

She hopes that her company will continue to help educate individuals from Wales and beyond about the important of reusing 'waste' wherever possible.

According to Bio-bean, an estimated average of 11 grams of fresh ground coffee goes into each cup, meaning around 393,500 tonnes of ground coffee are brewed every year, resulting in an estimated quarter of a million tonnes of wet, waste coffee grounds.

Most people Dr Oretti has spoken to were in-fact not aware that many 1000's of tonnes of waste ground coffee ends up in landfill each year, in just the UK alone!

Under landfill conditions, the grounds generate methane, of which is a potent greenhouse gas which contributes to global warming.

Coffee waste that Grounds For Good will collect - Credit: Rosie Oretti

The business has also developed a coffee waste depository scheme in central Cardiff. This allows local cafes to drop their coffee waste, which is then transported to a local processing plant where the grounds are converted into green energy and biofertilizer for the local Welsh community.

Just last month, 311 KW of green energy was produced which is enough electricity to run 311 laptops for 20 hours. Did you think your cup of coffee could do all that?

To see Ground For Good's full range, visit HERE.

If you would like to learn how to compost with coffee grounds - CLICK HERE

Comment your thoughts below