CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN SPENT COFFEE GROUNDS: EXEMPLE IN CERAMIC PIECES APPLICATION

Abstract

The coffee production chain is part of an industrial-extractive model, also known as linear economy, currently opposed by circular economy, which encourages the remaining of products and inputs for longer in the production chain. Coffee consumption started in Yemen and Ethiopia, arriving in Brazil in the 18th century. According to the Brazilian Association of Coffee Industries, its consumption can reach 1.2 million tons by 2021. Among the residues produced in the coffee cycle, spent coffee grounds stand out, used mainly as an input in composting. However, considering the principles of circular economy proposed by the Ellen Macarthur Foundation (2017), SCG can be used in different forms, as it appears in scientific literature, adding economic value to the residue. Therefore, this article aimed to use spent coffee ground as input in the decoration of ceramic pieces. For that, a humidity content test was carried out as well as the use of the residue as a decorative input with epoxy resin in ceramic pieces produced by the slip bonding method. With approximately 57% of humidity in the collected SCG, it was possible to estimate how much Curitiba, the national capital of specialty coffees, would spend on the disposal of this material. However, the decoration test showed how much material could be incorporated into the production of the ceramic pieces. Thus, it is concluded that the reinsertion of spent coffee grounds as an input for the decoration of ceramic pieces can be an additional viable alternative for the application of the principles of circular economy in the coffee production chain.