Bio-bean was a private company that industrialised the process of recycling waste coffee grounds into advanced
biofuels
Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as oil. According to the United States Energy Information Administration (E ...
and
biomass
Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms biom ...
pellets.
The company was located in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
, and built the world's first waste coffee recycling factory in
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...
. It was founded in 2013 by Arthur Kay. In 2014 the company was awarded £400,000 as the winner of the Postcode Lottery Green Challenge contest. In 2022 after an assessment by
B Corp
In business, B Corporation (also B Lab or B Corp) is a private certification of for-profit companies of their " social and environmental performance." It is distinct from the legal designation as a benefit corporation. B Corp certification is ...
, bio-bean was announced as the B Corp Best in the World Environment, with an overall score of 99.1.
History
Bio-bean was conceived while Arthur Kay was still an architecture student at
The Bartlett
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...
,
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = � ...
(UCL). Faced with the challenge of designing a coffee shop and roastery, Arthur realised that coffee was being wasted everywhere and set up bio-bean to recycle waste coffee grounds into advanced biofuels.
Bio-bean collected waste coffee grounds from hundreds of coffee shops, restaurants, office blocks, and coffee factories.
His idea won awards and support from the
Mayor of London
The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom.
The current ...
, UCL,
Tata
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Places
* Jamshedpur, a city in Jharkhand, India also known as Tatanagar or Tata
* Tata, Hungary, a town in Hungary
* Tata Islands, a pair of small islands off the coast of New Zealand
* Tata, Morocco, a city in Tata ...
,
Santander, and
Shell
Shell may refer to:
Architecture and design
* Shell (structure), a thin structure
** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses
** Thin-shell structure
Science Biology
* Seashell, a hard o ...
. bio-bean became a part of the
Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Dame Ellen Patricia MacArthur (born 8 July 1976) is a retired English sailor, from Whatstandwell near Matlock in Derbyshire, now based in Cowes, Isle of Wight.
MacArthur is a successful solo long-distance yachtswoman. On 7 February 2005, ...
CE100, and its products were exhibited at The Science Museum. The company was also awarded funding from
Innovate UK
Innovate UK is the United Kingdom's innovation agency, which provides money and support to organisations to make new products and services. It is a non-departmental public body operating at arm's length from the Government as part of the United ...
. Bio-bean's London collection service was launched by Mayor
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...
and Conservative MP
Zac Goldsmith
Frank Zacharias Robin Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith of Richmond Park, (born 20 January 1975) is a British politician, life peer and journalist serving as Minister of State for Overseas Territories, Commonwealth, Energy, Climate and Environment s ...
, and its 40,000 sq ft factory was opened in 2015 with the capacity to process 50,000 tonnes per year.
In 2015 Kay became the youngest-ever Guardian Sustainable Business Leader of the Year. In 2016 Bio-bean won the Virgin Media Business VOOM Grow category. In 2017 bio-bean collaborated with Shell, Argent Energy, and
Transport for London to create biodiesel from used coffee grounds, which has been used to power London's buses. The campaign achieved a global reach of 11.8 billion through purely earned media activation. The campaign was featured in global media outlets such as the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
,
Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to:
People
* Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer
* Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian
* Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and ...
,
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
,
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...
, among many others. In 2017 according to reports, Bio-bean launched its ad campaign after winning
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields.
Branson expresse ...
's Virgin Voom competition.
In March 2023 Bio-bean collapsed following strong domestic inflation and a factory fire. In July 2023 Envar Composting Ltd, a large UK-based
bioenergy
Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms biom ...
company, acquired Bio-Bean's assets.
Biofuel
Bio-bean's products were second-generation biofuels. Pellet fuels, namely biomass pellets, from waste coffee grounds, are burned in biomass boilers as a sustainable, local renewable heat alternative. bio-bean also produced briquettes and barbecue charcoal from waste coffee grounds bio-bean conducted extensive research and development into biodiesel, biochemicals, and further uses for waste coffee grounds and other organic waste streams.
See also
*
Biodiesel from used coffee
References
{{Reflist
Biomass
Biodiesel
Recycling in the United Kingdom
Coffee companies of the United Kingdom
Companies based in the City of London
British companies established in 2013
Waste management companies of the United Kingdom