From high mountains to deep seas, plastic has created tons of problems for the planet and all of its inhabitants. While governments have banned single-use plastic to reduce plastic pollution, creating sustainable, eco-friendly alternatives to replace the non-biodegradable material is crucial. To this cause, AirX Coffee launched the world’s first coffee bio-composite to replace single-use plastic.
Made in Vietnam, the new material, coffee bio-composite made from the coffee ground is considered a perfect substitute for traditional plastic. This material can be used to replace tableware, polystyrene cup, flowerpot and every plastic material.
Additionally, this material has applied a three-star OK Bio-based certification of TUV AUSTRIA, which contains bio-based content between 60 percent and 80 percent.
AirX Coffee launched the world’s first coffee bio-composite to replace single-use plastic and prevent coffee grounds from going to waste | Image: AirX Coffee
To make the material, coffee grounds from local coffee shops in Vietnam are collected, dried and mixed with recycled materials, starch, cellulose, wood, natural resins, waxes and oils. The resulting coffee composite is bio-based, recyclable, lightweight, and looks like dark wood.
According to Thanh Le, the founder of the company,
The new material is more competitive than the traditional plastic. With 10% cheaper in price than oil-based plastic, coffee bio-composite is expected to help the Vietnamese plastic industry to have better competitiveness in the global market. It also helps Vietnam to reduce reliance on fossil-based materials.
The researchers believe the coffee bio-composite is a good substitute for the synthetic plastics that are being abundantly used across the world. It has been developed in the university lab, and a shift to cost-effective scaling and production will be ready in June 2021.
Moreover, the creation of this new material will help limit the single-use plastic and prevent coffee grounds from going to waste and releasing harmful methane gas into the atmosphere.
Before the introduction of the coffee bio-composite material, the company has successfully launched AirX Coffee Mask, the reusable face mask of coffee to over 50 countries across the planet.
Hopefully, more eco-friendly substitutes for plastic materials could be invented to rid the planet of the plastic plague.
Via: PR Newswire