In 2012, for example, 40 percent of global coffee production was produced in compliance with a voluntary sustainability standard, up from 15 percent in 2008, according to the State of Sustainability Initiatives, an organization that reports on global sustainability projects.Īt the same time, the way for-profit businesses view sustainability has shifted. Over the past several decades, nongovernmental organizations have gradually succeeded in persuading businesses to adopt a variety of sustainable practices that ultimately transformed the specialty coffee industry. … It’s about how we build and make things so that one person’s waste becomes another person’s input materials.” ![]() As Goodrich explains it, a circular economy is based on the recognition that “we have to move away from what folks call our linear economy of take-make-waste and envision a next life for what currently is our waste. The circular economy traces its origins back to the 1970s, but it is only in the past few years that the concept has taken off, driven in large part by the work of the U.K.-based Ellen MacArthur Foundation. The simplest way to reuse used coffee grounds is to compost them. “The most difficult aspect of sustainability has been integrating this into your business strategy, and the circular economy provides a better framework to help companies do that.” “Sustainability has evolved significantly from the late 1990s to now,” says Nina Goodrich, executive director of GreenBlue, a nonprofit based in Charlottesville, Virginia, dedicated to the sustainable use of materials. The aim of the circular economy is to close the loop of our industrial system, reducing resource consumption and environmental pollution by transforming waste into input material for the next stage of production. Enabled by policy changes and innovative technologies, a new paradigm known as the circular economy is emerging, one that holds the promise of reshaping the global economy and transforming our relationship with the natural world - the coffee tree very much included. Sustainability and the EconomyĪcross the world, companies, researchers and engaged consumers are pioneering the next era of environmental sustainability. Most coffee lovers don’t give much thought to their spent grounds, but these black, sodden remains of pulverized coffee seeds have inspired the freshly caffeinated imaginations of scientists, entrepreneurs and social innovators from Melbourne to London to Seoul, sprouting into ideas of real consequence for the coffee industry. At the consumer end of the supply chain, used coffee grounds are the most visible example of this waste, the bit we dump in the bin after making each fresh brew. ![]() Global coffee production creates in excess of 23 million tons of waste per year, according to sustainability researcher Gunter Pauli, from the pulp of fresh coffee cherries through the packaging that brings the roasted beans to your favorite barista. (Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the March/April 2016 issue of Roast magazine.
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