Tables and chairs made with waste coffee take the cappuccino experience to a whole new level thanks to a unique coffee-aroma polymer developed by Axion Polymers for Re-worked, a London-based industrial design and product development enterprise.
Axion blended mixed WEEE and post-consumer retail waste plastics with spent coffee grounds collected from the capital's offices, cafes and factories to make "aromatic" pellets.
Re-worked had these moulded into plastic sheeting to create Çurface (pronounced Surface) - a revolutionary and versatile hard surfacing product with a faint coffee smell.
Axion, a plastic recycling specialist, believes it is the first time waste from the popular worldwide beverage has been used in this way.
Re-worked commercially launched the "tactile" material - described as a cross between dark leather and wood - in March at Ecobuild 2010, the UK's largest green design and building exhibition in London.
Re-worked Director Adam Fairweather hopes his idea will catch on, particularly with catering establishments for which it has particular relevance. Inspiration came to him (literally) during a coffee break while researching ways to add a new high perceptual value to non-recycled waste... such as coffee.
"Coffee is a globally-traded commodity and highly-regarded in contemporary culture; so it was an obvious choice to use the waste product as a way of communicating a big message in sustainable and functional design," he explains. "It's a great talking point that really engages the consumer with the product's environmental story."
Adam reckons there is great potential for Çurface, especially given its considerable source waste stream that would otherwise be landfilled. Spent coffee grounds are cleaned and sterilised before being mixed and turned into sheeting.
"Every month the UK imports 14,000 tonnes of coffee from which there is plentiful waste, often in a pure form that can be separated easily for recycling," he added. "We're working with Axion on various composite coffee products to extend the Re-worked philosophy into exciting new areas."