Those who save the grounds – the university tender for the collection of coffee grounds launched by Coca-Cola HBC Hungary and MATE has closed

By: Trademagazin Date: 2023. 12. 06. 11:23

The university Zaccmentő competition announced by Coca-Cola HBC Hungary and the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE) ended with exciting and creative student presentations. The student application was an attempt to develop a safe collection and return system for coffee grounds produced by Coca-Cola HBC Hungary’s hospitality industry customer partners. The winning team developed the idea of a two-stage grounds collection system: after UV sterilization in one container, the already sterilized coffee grounds are collected in another container equipped with a volume sensor, which is transported after a saturation signal.

Although coffee grounds are rich in valuable substances and consist of many components suitable for recycling, most of them end up in the garbage because organic waste has not yet been integrated into the cycle. Those who can and consider it important already compost the resulting grounds at home, but the amount of this is negligible compared to the fact that more than 14,000 tons of grounds are produced from the coffee consumed in Hungary. According to a previous survey by Coca-Cola HBC Hungary on the domestic coffee market of about HUF 200 billion, an average HoReCa unit generates 4-500 kilograms of grounds annually.

The participants of the Zaccmentő tender tried to find out how we can give new life to the zacc. A total of 27 student teams applied for the competition, and after the preliminary judging in November, the five finalist teams were able to present their ideas to the professional jury.